In 2020, two members of Vein.fm, singer Anthony DiDio and drummer Matt Wood, got together to start a new band that sounded nothing like Vein. On their excellent demo, the side project Fleshwater leaned into heavy and melodic stuff, coming up with their own take on the metallic shoegaze that’s been so awesomely dominant lately. Today, Fleshwater have followed that demo with their full-length debut We’re Not Here To Be Loved, and it rules.

At this point, it’s a little harder to say that Vein and Fleshwater sound nothing alike, since Vein have recently taken a turn into something a little more pretty and emo-leaning than the guttural herky-jerk hardcore of their earlier years. Vein’s whole personality comes through in Fleshwater, but the Vein members aren’t really the focal point here. Instead, Fleshwater lead singer Marisa Shirar is the focal point here. She can sound glassy and guttural at the same time, and she floats over the band’s churn.

Converge’s Kurt Ballou produced We’re Not Here To Be Loved, and he brings out both the heaviness and the prettiness. The songs also slap. That matters, too. We’ve already posted the early tracks “Kiss The Ladder” and “The Razor’s Apple,” and now you can stream the whole LP below.

We’re Not Here To Be Loved is out now on Closed Casket Activities.