Shadowvale (Shadowvale)

10 minutes ago
6 min read

Released: 2026

Genre: Sludge, Hardcore

Sounds Like: Made Out Of Babies, Jucifer, Crisis

Homeland: Nottingham, UK

What makes Shadowvale elite and sit atop OHMs Peak?

Shadowvale's newest album blends sludge and 90s hardcore, featuring intense vocals that both pay tribute to the past and challenge genre limits.
Lara Kelly's vocals are exceptional, demonstrating an impressive range and emotional depth. Her angst and the softer tones will pull you in. These gentle parts perfectly contrast with the more intense sections of the songs.
The production is flawless. This album isn't overproduced and maintains a raw, hardcore feel.

Track Listing:

The Eastern Gate 5:11
Bloodbound 3:46
Endless Chain 5:47
Zopiclone Black 2:52
Barghest 4:15
In the Heather 6:44
Orbital Collapse 4:25
The Spectre 6:06

Dive deeper into Shadowvale with our Q&A with drummer Ryan Slater.

OHMs Peak: Shadowvale’s debut sounds remarkably mature for a first release — atmospheric, confident, and fully realized. How did the band come together in Nottingham, and what led to creating one of the most impressive debut albums we’ve heard this year?

Ryan Slater: The origins really came from the original trio of Richard Eadie (Guitar), Jonathan Wright (Bass), and Ryan Slater (Drums) running sessions together and drawing from a wide-cast net of influences, with just the idea of writing something we enjoyed. Over a few months, we got to a point where we had a few tracks and foundations ready to go but couldn't really explore any further without a vocalist to add their flavour. We met with Lara Kelly prospectively and near enough immediately locked in what turned out to be our sludgy quartet. We mixed establishing our roots in the local alternative scene through live shows, with releasing and recording our debut EP "Austere".

Shortly after, Jonathan stepped away and in came Lee Chrimes to drive the new chapter of our low end sounds. Over the next 2 years or so we spent time playing shows and festival slots all over the UK to continue to refine our sound, build our presence, and test some of the ideas we had on real crowds, all whilst meticulously crafting and curating the 8 tracks that ended up on the self titled debut album. The reviews and feedback we've had from the release have been incredibly positive, far exceeding what we hoped for, honestly. A lot of the sound you get from "Shadowvale" is driven by our original goal of writing music that we love, drawing from our own unique and arguably mismatched influences, and not intending to sound-alike anything else specifically. The result is a blend of our own take on a smorgasbord of alternative sub-genres that we feel worked really well, and the album ended up a real refinement and next-step from "Austere", exploring a few more experimental sounds around our regular heavy presence.

OHMs Peak: “In The Heather” introduces a sludgier, softer, dream‑drenched side of the band. What was the meaning and creation process behind this track?

Ryan Slater: This was a really tough one for Lara to write, and it contains a lot of graphic content and it's writhing in dark subtext.. Everything we've done is closely infused with personal experiences, but we really encourage listeners to draw their own take on what tracks might mean to them. There are a few hints as to the theme and inspiration sprinkled into the lyrics you can find if you look for them, but we also genuinely love the idea that people can make it their own, and draw their own connections to music however they see fit.

OHMs Peak: Who created the album artwork for Shadowvale, and how did the band decide this was the visual identity that best represented the debut?

Ryan Slater: The original Ghost was drawn by Dirtpen Artwork, who we've worked with a few times over the years for merch artwork and original designs. We really like the scratchy and distorted style he puts into his work and it's ultimately a great representation of how we wanted to present the visual style of the album.

The album itself is a semi-concept album about a nameless protagonist’s journey through an arcane portal and the personal truths they learn beyond. We wanted to reflect the mood of the album, and the cover serves as a very simple way to represent the gloomy, sludgy, dark content of the listening and lyrical experience. The full composition, and all of our creative media content is made by Ryan Slater (Drums), and the teaser video work also served the release really well by providing a vague and dramatic sense of what was to come.

OHMs Peak: Each member of Shadowvale has roots in other bands and projects. What specifically has each of you worked on previously, and how did those past experiences shape the sound you’re creating now?

Ryan Slater: I won't be able to go into too much depth here as a lot of what we wrote was personally infused, but each one of us have experienced & survived traumatic events, and have in the past struggled with our own mental health. I can say the band and the creative input through writing and performing Shadowvale serves is a big part of the healing process, and the output is both a musical & visual experience that represents it well. Previous bands and other projects didn't necessarily have influence directly on this one beyond learning lessons on things to avoid from our younger, more naïve selves.

Most recently, Ryan and Rich announced they're working on a new project focused on a more post-hardcore and punk energy sound drawing inspiration from bands like Cancer Bats, Alexisonfire, Teen Mortgage, etc. This will absolutely be something again, very different from what folks know us for.

OHMs Peak: If Shadowvale could perform anywhere in the world, at any venue, what stage would the band choose and why?

Ryan Slater: I'm sure we'd all have different answers here, but I'm gonna take the executive decision and say Red Rocks in Denver. That place is absolutely stunning and iconic. There's literally nowhere else like it and some of the videos you can find online from different artists playing there look incredible. The rock faces are dramatic and the atmosphere looks phenomenal. Truly a unique venue.

OHMs Peak: Outside your genre, what band do you feel would most complement your sound in a live setting — a group whose atmosphere or emotional weight would pair powerfully with Shadowvale on a shared bill?

Ryan Slater: This is a real difficult one given the varied sounds we bring ourselves. One of the things we've found over the years is that we actually suit a lot of rosters and lineups, and even ones you wouldn't expect, as track by track our sound varies enough to land well with lots of different sub-communities in the alternative scene. We've found ourselves playing on all sorts of odd lineups, and we've headlined some incredible shows supported by bands of all sorts without it being a jarring crowd experience.

I think the bands that we'd love to play with would range from doom / sludge icons like Electric Wizard, Windhand and Conan, right the way through to early Mastodon, Lamb of God, etc.

OHMs Peak: Shadowvale is stranded on an island with only a solar‑powered record player. As a band , collectively, what single album are you bringing with you?

Ryan Slater: Almost impossible for us to agree on, honestly. We've taken great pride in all bringing our own sonic flavours to the project and what we actively listen to outside of the project varies so much to the point it actually became an inside joke that we'd share albums from particular artists, and every single damn time we'd all have very different rankings of which is best. I'll die on the hill that Watershed is the best Opeth album (shortly followed by Ghost Reveries), not that anyone else would agree.

If you asked each of us, I'm sure you'd get something along the lines of:

Wrath by Lamb of God - Lara

Leviathan by Mastodon - Rich

Fear of a Blank Planet by Porcupine Tree - Ryan

Ocean Machine - Devin Townsend

Shadowvale are:

Lara Kelly

Richard Eadie

Ryan Slater

Lee Chrimes

Jonathan Wright

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