Heavy shoegazers ASkySoBlack break down every track on debut LP ‘Touch Heaven’

If you’re into the crossover between heavy music and shoegaze, Philly’s ASkySoBlack is a band worth having on your radar. They arrived fully formed on their 2021 debut EP What Is Yet To Come?, kept it going on 2022’s Autumn In The Water, and now release their first full-length album, Touch Heaven, via New Morality Zine. They straddle the line between shoegaze, post-hardcore, and alternative metal in a way that brings to mind anything from Deftones to Superheaven to Fleshwater, and Touch Heaven isn’t all about ethereal vibes. They know how to break out into vicious screams when the song calls for it, and Touch Heaven does that as effectively as it does reverbed-out, wall-of-distortion bliss.

Vocalist/guitarist Jordan Shteif calls the album “an admission of guilt, a failure to change, and a cry for help in the face of blatant omens,” and for a deeper dive into the LP, Jordan has given us a track-by-track breakdown, which you can read below.

ASkySoBlack are also touring, including a NYC show on February 18 at TV Eye with Split Chain and bloodsports. All dates are listed below.

Touch Heaven by ASKYSOBLACK

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TRACK-BY-TRACK BREAKDOWN

1. On For No One
This song features some lyrics I wrote ten years ago borrowed from a rap song – I won’t let anyone find any time soon. I think I was listening to Disenlightenment by Mourning a lot when I wrote the guitar. I like the end because it makes me feel like I’m singing the Zoey-101 theme song.

2. I Wish I Was Not
This song is about my general distaste for people and kind of how birds of a feather flock together. I was listening to New Found Glory’s second record and Feather of Forgiveness by Polvo when I was writing the guitar for it. This song probably had three different names before settling on I Wish I Was Not.

3. Boy Like A Bruise
This song is also about my general distaste for people although it more so goes into recognizing that I’m taking my life for granted and effecting others. I’m asking myself “what am I to do when you’re away” because I’ve never known myself to be any different and the thought of change isn’t a thought that soothes me.

4. You Sit Useless
I showed my friend Anthony who plays in Othiel (great band) a demo of this song and he pointed out how similar it sounded to “Am I Wry? No” by the band Mew. I hadn’t heard the song or the band until he showed me. I thought I was just combining the intro to Mayonnaise by Smashing Pumpkins with Obvious by Blink-182, but nope, the whole time, I stole a Mew song. It’s largely about not letting go of the past and how that type of thing is easily weaponized in love.

5. Portrait In Private
In my life I have repeatedly spit in the face of pure love. This song makes me feel mean and terrible and fills me with immeasurable regret and shame. I’m kind of making fun of the Deftones thing people lump us in with by sustaining the “away” part vocally. I don’t feel mean for that though that’s just fun.

6. Carousel House
This song is a war with boredom. My vices were kicking my ass for a while. The line “those who’re dead already said it best” is me pointing out how un-special my suffering is and how the art I enjoy is all by people who’ve succumbed to their own war. I think a lot about running away which is referenced in the second verse. The final chorus is a hopeful reframing of burning bridges.

7. Did It All Wrong
I wrote this song to appease the people who miss us playing heavier shit.

8. It’s A Slow Crash
It’s kind of an interlude track. I was watching this old German movie called “Christiane F” about a young girl’s descent into heroin, and there’s a club scene where the bass line made me pause the film and pick up the guitar. I can’t remember if I recreated it well or not but I know that was the inspiration for the first few notes you hear in the song.

9. Hold Me Holy
Our old guitarist, Vaughn, wrote this song, and it’s got an interesting sound and a pretty distinct outro. Listening back, the octave lead in that section stands out to me and catches the listener’s attention.

10. Every Heart Needs Some Mileage
This song is a big shift in sound for us. I never intended for us to be solely any one genre of band and this song really pushes us into softer more weepy territory.

11. Sore For You
This song further expands on that softer, weepier territory we explored on Every Heart. It sums up the doubt, hurt and betrayal that is often referenced throughout Touch Heaven and defines the name as an escape by ending with the line, “If you see me get lost, touch heaven.”

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ASkySoBlack — 2025 Tour Dates
February 18 | Queens, NY @ TV Eye w/ Split Chain, bloodsports
February 21 | Cleveland, OH @ Birdhouse
February 22 | Grand Rapids, MI @ Morning Ritual
February 23 | Chicago, IL @ Cobra Lounge
February 24 | Indianapolis, IN @ Heater
February 25 | Nashville, TN @ TBA
February 26 | Atlanta, GA @ 529 Bar
February 27 | Gainesville, FL @ The Ox
February 28 | Tampa, FL @ Skatepark of Tampa
March 1 | Pompano Beach, FL @ Grimz
March 2 | Orlando, FL @ Wills Pub
March 4 | Richmond, VA@ The Camel
March 5 | Baltimore, MD @ Ottobar
March 7 | Philadelphia, PA @ TBA