T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land brims with quotable quotes, no section more than I: The Burial of the Dead. There, we learn that ‘April is the cruellest month,’ see ‘fear in a handful of dust,’1 and drift through the ‘Unreal City’ (1, 30, 60). For the title of their sixth album, Swedish post-rock duo Oh Hiroshima digs into the opening gambit of Eliot’s modernist epic for a deeper cut: ‘Son of man, / You cannot say, or guess, for you know only / A heap of broken images, where the sun beats, / And the dead tree gives no shelter” (20–23, emphasis mine).2 The ‘dead tree,’ the band explains in their promo materials, serves as a fitting metaphor for ‘ways of living that drain the world of meaning and offer no real way of navigating the hardships of life.’ Cloistering oneself from an increasingly dystopian world breeds cynicism and apathy, making it impossible to overcome the despair caused by this world.3 Musically, And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter attempts to ‘paint something meaningful and hopeful’ that can help us ‘leave the shelterless dead trees of our lives behind.’ For Oh Hiroshima to achieve such lofty ambitions, the tracks populating Dead Tree must avoid resembling a heap of broken images, instead cohering into a compendium of vulnerable yet powerful songs.
On And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter, Oh Hiroshima continue diversifying their cathartic take on post-rock. Since 2022’s Myriad, Jakob Hemström (guitar, bass, vocals) and Oskar Nilsson (drums, percussion) have been adding progressive rock elements into their repertoire.4 Dead Tree recalls the textured guitar work of Mogwai, the nuanced rhythms of Tortoise, and the driving immediacy of latter-day Thrice. Subtly, the compositions are often non-traditional, gradually layering sparkling guitars over odd-time drum n’ bass and crescendoing into heavier riffing (“Meridian”). Adding to the adventurous compositions is orchestral instrumentation, with delicate piano twinkles and soaring strings swirling around the rock-band core (“Tree of Life”). Sometimes, Dead Tree releases tension through driving energy; other times, it bottles up the tension, creating a sense of longing.
And The Dead Tree Gives No Shelter by Oh Hiroshima
And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter also continues the band’s growing emphasis on vocals. When present in post-rock, vocals can be a bit too atmospheric and mumbly for my liking. Oh Hiroshima does occasionally write passages where Hemström’s voice unclearly contributes to sonic depth (“Servant of All,” “Meridian”). But for the most part, Dead Tree gives its vocals prominence without feeding into cliché rock-song structures. “Broken Sunlight,” for example, bookends a circuitous guitar melody, powered by a stop-start groove, with a robust, titular-line ‘chorus.’ On the more vulnerable side of the spectrum, “Angelos” comes closest to predictability, but the haunting, piano-led bridge that sprouts from the beautifully harmonized verse-chorus cycle is anything but. While not the norm on Dead Tree, these vocal-driven songs, hewing closer to traditional structures, become the glimmers that—oddly—keep the album fresh.
At 8 tracks totaling 47 minutes, And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter coheres into a satisfying experience, with only a cracked image or two. “Servant of All” aptly introduces Oh Hiroshima’s arsenal, while “Meridian” emphasizes rhythm and “Angelos” spotlights melody. After this opening trio, “Skeleton Key” flirts with filler—while not a bad song, its mid-song jolt doesn’t develop into something terribly interesting. Fortunately, side B revamps with the ornate melancholy of “Tree of Life” and the straight-ahead drive of “Broken Sunlight.” “Ivory Town” is quite beautiful, though it doesn’t exactly stand on its own, feeling like a minimalist setup for the closer. Like a flock of Red Sparrowes, “Exit Cloud” escalates, overlaying strings and horns into a cinematic concoction, picking up the pace halfway before an intense conclusion. Perhaps the album’s strongest song, it’s a dynamite ending to Dead Tree.
Oh Hiroshima has certainly succeeded at producing an album that feels ‘meaningful.’ And the Dead Tree Gives No Shelter sounds beautiful, if perhaps humdrum, on a first listen or two. Repeat engagements, however, reveal compositional and instrumental depth, cementing the emotional staying power of its songs (with an exception or two). Son of Angry Metal Guy: if you know only a heap of breakneck metal, Dead Tree likely isn’t for you. If, however, you don’t mind post-ing your metal, or can get down with its gentler cousin, Dead Tree might supply the shantih you’ve been seeking.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
DR: 7 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Pelagic Records
Websites: Instagram | Facebook
Releases Worldwide: June 5th, 2026
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