Since 2012’s In Augment, Fight Cloud have been making big impressions at every turn, but if you’re the type to hover around the math rock and/or emo scenes, you already knew that. More than well-navigated tropes or serving up the latest fashions, it’s the band’s genuine sense of heart that’s always pushed them to the front of the pack.
It sounds simple, but it’s a hard balance to strike – so how do they do it? Well, for one their tenacity has never once felt forced or too clever for its own good. Even when they’ve been light-hearted, it’s never felt like a joke. By sticking to their guns and honoring their core emotions, they’ve allowed fans to develop a a sense of trust with the band.
For us, this really clicked in 2020 with the release of Thoughts Aligned. It was big and bold but intimate too. It came from the gut to the point that it didn’t feel like a stretch to call the band Virginia’s own TTNG, and this continued again with the slightly more upbeat Ritual Disaster in 2024.
Somehow that was two years ago, and we’re already at the dawn of their next chapter, Around the Light,. At this point we had every reason to expect it would be great, but what we didn’t bet on what just how powerfully it would hit us by deftly building on the strengths they’ve honed thus far. It should come with a content warning for asphyxiation, because there are multiple moments it’s liable to take your breath away.
There’s really very little debate, those last two records are 2020’s math rock classics that still resonate today. They’ll always be worth revisiting on their own merit, but against all odds Around the Light feels like a sonic eclipse for the already accomplished band. It’s not like they’re trying a new aesthetic or bold new production. These are just great fucking songs.
Fans will be happy to hear it’s still got their signature dreary nature on full display – in fact, the band’s name has never felt like a better fit. Perhaps the magic lies in their supernatural ability to conjure sheets of rain and stormy skies while also letting light sine through at just the right time. “Tides Run Thru” and “New Headache” are sure to bring tears to sensitive eyes, and if that’s not a great sign we don’t know what is, and that’s just the first half of the record.
In some ways, transition track “Right Side In” is the lightest moment here, and it’s still objectively introspective with its brooding reverse pads and out-of-body atmosphere. The instrumental followup “Commando Center” almost fakes you out, giving a little more of that energy from Ritual Disaster before plummeting into combative dissonance. Then we get the album’s big single “Ease to Breathe,” which has been stuck in our heads since we heard it a few weeks ago thanks to its chunky heart and resigned sweetness.
By the time you get to the beautiful closer “Guarantor,” you’re sure to be thinking about starting the whole thing over just to live in its world. We really didn’t want it to be over when it was. It made us think of Oregon, made us think about relationships, and it made us think about ourselves. Maybe we’re just the exact target audience of a band like Fight Cloud, like we enjoy the balancing act of being sad but holding hope at the same time. Maybe that’s giving it too much credit, but honestly it feels like no matter what we say, we couldn’t give it enough.
Albums like Around the Light alleviate depression and anxiety by allowing those emotions to breathe, and in 2026 it’s hard to ask for more than that. Really, the it gives so much more than that, but it leaves you with a unified grace. It’s a record that feels like a pat on the back from an old friend, reminding you there’s more to come, but it doesn’t accomplish this by attempting to placate or coddle. It does is by showing you there are ways, gorgeous ways, of giving those feelings validity and transforming them through music.
(Thanks for reading! If you’re looking for more music, check out our Bandcamp compilations here. If you like us, or possibly even love us, donations are always appreciated at the Buy Me A Coffee page here as well. Don’t let the bastards get you down!)