ALBUM REVIEW: Omni – Moon Destroys
Having undergone a lineup change since their excellent full length debut, 2025’s She Walks By Moonlight, MOON DESTROYS return as a three-piece with Omni. The band has been busy outside of the studio in recent months, landing support slots with the likes of ELDER, DOZER and THE SWORD and founding members Juan Montoya (ex-TORCHE) and Evan Diprima (ex-ROYAL THUNDER) ushered in 2026 by welcoming Zach Amster on lead vocals and rhythm guitar and settling on a lineup to record the new album.
The band’s debut was a swirling blend of shimmering post-rock, doom and shoegazey, psychedelic drone that created an otherworldly, cinematic atmosphere and that combination of genres still works well on Omni, with a sprinkling of old-school grunge riffing sprinkled in for good measure. Opening track Invasion is a great example of this, a clash of punky energy, charging riffs, honey-covered harmonies and lead guitars that sound at once frantically urgent and blissfully spaced out. Amster’s vocal delivery immediately sets this apart from the band’s last album. Gone are the gothic-tinged and gloomy melodies of She Walks By Moonlight, replaced on Omni by a laid-back, more uplifting vocal style that gives everything a more positive vibe overall, in a similar vein to the UK’s ELEPHANT TREE.
The band haven’t done away with the darkness altogether though, as the moody synths on the chorus of My Eyes prove. This adds a touch of eighties gloom that permeates the record and retains a lot of the atmosphere of their previous work, despite the different vocal direction. The influence of bands like MY BLOODY VALENTINE and THE CURE pop up throughout the instrumentation and arrangements, although this is no eighties pastiche and has one foot firmly planted in the future of heavy music.
And there is still plenty of heavy stuff here too. The metallic riffing of Motion Sickness’ verses provides plenty of head-banging opportunities, while the chorus juxtaposes this weight with its post-rock melody and multi-layered harmonies. Likewise, the doomy riffing and spacey vocals on Nocturne and Kingdom will please fans of TORCHE who have come here looking for traces of their sound. ‘Now I can breathe, now I can see’ sings Amster, seemingly shaking off the weight of the world as the vocal harmonies soar into the stratosphere.
It is on Omni‘s more introspective moments though where MOON DESTROYS stand out from the crowd. Lost Hearts is a beautiful, ambient, two-minute soundscape of synths and guitars that just completely washes over you, almost cleansing the palate before the magnificent, epic She Cried closes the album with a desperate sense of emotion less obvious earlier on the record. Sparse echoing drums and guitars give Amster’s vocals room to move and explore their upper ranges, his voice straining with pain and hurt. It’s a slight detour from what has come before it but is a welcome one, showing a depth to the band’s songwriting talents. If there is a minor complaint about the eleven tracks on offer here it is that by the end of the album things are almost starting to sound a little samey. Thanks to the variety offered by these last two, more experimental, songs you get the sense that this is something MOON DESTROYS is consciously trying to avoid and more power to them for that.
The production on Omni also needs a mention. The mix is balanced perfectly, the fuzz and weight hitting just when it needs to while staying clean during the more post-rock moments with the vocals sitting nicely on top of everything. While it may not be revolutionary in a genre that is constantly evolving, it’s still an excellent album that fans of the members’ previous projects would do well to seek out.
Rating: 7/10
Omni is set for release on September 4th via Blues Funeral Recordings.
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