REVIEW: Glasswaves - while(True)
What happens when the things we want most become the things that destroy us? For GLASSWAVES, that question sits at the heart of while(True), a debut album that feels less like a collection of metalcore tracks and more like a descent into something deeply unsettling. Hailing from Rochester, New York, the trio fuse industrial electronics, dark pop and crushing heaviness into a world built on addiction, obsession and the uglier corners of human nature. It’s a record about losing control, and the lies we tell ourselves along the way.
At the centre is Liminal-Neuro, a med-tech company experimenting with a drug called Neuro Veil, designed to help people overcome their fears. Naturally, things go horribly wrong. An ancient female entity known as The Veil emerges, feeding on its victims’ desires and turning their vulnerabilities against them. It’s a compelling premise, but what makes it work is how uncomfortably familiar it feels. Beneath the science-fiction imagery lies something much more human: manipulation, selfishness and the endless cycle of making the same mistakes while convincing ourselves that this time will be different.
The title says it all. In programming, "while(True)" creates a loop that continues indefinitely, and GLASSWAVES use that idea to explore the patterns we become trapped in. Addiction, toxic relationships and the desperate need to feel something more all feature prominently. There’s something particularly bleak about recognising your own destruction and continuing towards it anyway.
Musically, while(True) is just as restless. Crushing, down-tuned riffs collide with glitching electronics, industrial textures and moments of genuine vulnerability. The heaviness is there, but GLASSWAVES understand that noise alone isn’t enough to make something frightening. Sometimes, the quieter moments are the most suffocating, allowing tension to settle before everything threatens to come apart.
FALSE_glow: establishes the atmosphere, while Saving[face] delivers one of the album’s most relatable moments. Built around choppy electronics, driving guitars and an infectious chorus, the track explores the exhaustion of pretending to be someone you’re not. There’s something painfully familiar about performing a version of yourself until you forget who you were underneath it all. It’s accessible songwriting with something deeply uncomfortable lurking beneath the surface.
fvck.me.up pushes further into the darkness, before Swarm.ING_ brings the horror into focus. Breathless vocals, anxious riffs and glitch-heavy beats create an atmosphere that feels increasingly claustrophobic. The image of a parasite eating away at you from the inside is disturbing enough, but the hypnotic refrain makes the whole thing feel impossible to escape. Something is taking control, and the longer it continues, the harder it becomes to distinguish victim from monster.
(D:)rive and doomed:2:DIE maintain that uneasy momentum, balancing electronic experimentation with heavier instrumentation. GLASSWAVES understand that atmosphere can be just as effective as aggression, allowing tension to build before unleashing the heavier passages. It gives the album a sense of movement without sacrificing its unpredictability. Things get particularly interesting on SCARed, where a lullaby-like loop collides with industrial percussion and crushing guitars. The Veil appears to speak directly to the narrator, blurring the line between external manipulation and internal collapse. Is the entity real, or is the narrator being consumed by their own psychological turmoil? The uncertainty makes the track work. There are no easy answers, just the uncomfortable feeling that the truth might be worse either way.
Elsewhere, <<bye>>, hi xoxo and PR3SSURE keep things moving, while circling_the_drain reinforces the album’s fixation on destructive patterns. Despite the futuristic presentation, the emotions remain painfully recognisable. This is ultimately a record about the lies we tell ourselves, the people we hurt and the things we refuse to let go of, even when we know where they’re taking us. The closing track, ://WishIDidn't, brings everything back to earth. Stripped-back electronics and barely whispered vocals replace much of the record’s heavier intensity, leaving space for regret, dishonesty and lost love. There’s no grand finale, just a fragile ending that feels painfully real. Sometimes, the worst thing isn’t a monster lurking in the dark. It’s remembering something you can never take back.
The genre-hopping won’t appeal to everyone, and the conceptual framework occasionally demands more patience than a straightforward, riff-driven record. Still, GLASSWAVES deserve credit for their ambition. The storytelling, production and shifting dynamics create a world that feels carefully constructed without losing its emotional bite.
What makes while(True) effective is how its horror reflects reality. Beneath the industrial noise and psychological unease is a familiar struggle: trying to escape the patterns that keep pulling us under. GLASSWAVES have created a debut that is dark, immersive and occasionally uncomfortably familiar. We keep chasing the same desires, making the same mistakes and convincing ourselves that this time will be different. And sometimes, knowing we’re trapped is the scariest part of all.
Score: 9/10
while(True) will be released on 23rd October 2026 via SharpTone Records.
Words: Mia Gailey
Photos: Kelly Hough
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