Rock/Review Wholes - A Mass in the Water

Wholes is what it sounds like when sleep is no longer sufficient. When the slate can’t be swept clean and thoughts pile on top of thoughts on top of thoughts. Indistinguishable. Unstoppable. A babel of bedlam. Members of Elefant, Pink Room, Hypochristmutreefuzz, and Kolektiv find themselves somewhere between Housewives, David Sylvian, Devo, and Gilla Band.

With “A Mass in the Water,” Wholes — the newest project from Belgian musician Wolf Vanwymeersch — delivers an album that feels less like a collection of songs and more like a wound turned inside out. Born from the emotional wreckage following his father’s suicide, this album is an unfiltered descent into pain, confusion, rage, and the fragile hope that somehow survives beneath it all. Its title reflects that duality: holes that mark the damage, and wholes that signal the long, difficult path toward healing.

Recorded instrumentally over just three intense days at Studio Boma in Ghent, the album captures the immediacy of a mind on fire. Guitars scrape and scream, drums shudder and collide — yet within the noise, Wolf threads delicate melodies that feel like moments of unexpected clarity. Vocals, recorded later at home, hover between confession and catharsis, giving the record an intimacy that amplifies its emotional weight.

What makes “A Mass in the Water” stand out is its refusal to sanitize grief. The music thrashes, distorts, pulses; it’s chaotic, but with intention. Wolf shapes anguish into something both abrasive and arrestingly beautiful. Mixed by Vanwymeersch himself and mastered by Jerboa Mastering, the album retains the rawness of its origins while achieving a visceral sonic cohesion.

Ultimately, “A Mass in the Water” is the sound of a scar forming — harsh, melodic, human. It’s an exorcism and a reckoning, but also a quiet testament to survival. This is not merely an album; it’s a confrontation with the unthinkable, and a fiercely honest attempt to make meaning from its aftermath.