Molassess

Formed from veterans of the Dutch groups the Devil's Blood and Astrosoniq, Molasses surfaced toward the close of the 2010s with a sound blending doom rock and soaring psychedelia that extended the lineage of both earlier ensembles. Their initial public commission came when they were asked to create fresh material for the 2019 Roadburn Festival, an assignment that effectively marked their first appearance; the following year they issued their debut full-length, Through the Hollow.

After the Devil's Blood dissolved in 2013 and Farida Lemouchi's brother and former bandmate Selim Lemouchi died by suicide, the vocalist spent several years working alongside Griftegård, Heretic, and Urfaust yet deliberately avoided taking the spotlight. Roadburn artistic director Walter Hoeijmakers proposed that she reunite with ex-colleagues Oeds Beydals, Job van de Zande, and Ron van Herpen, then bring in Astrosoniq's Marcel van de Vondervoort plus Bob Hogenelst of Birth of Joy and Matthijs Stronks of Donnerwetter, thereby assembling what amounted to a Dutch doom-rock supergroup. Taking its name from a track on Selim Lemouchi's last project, the collective made its live bow at the 2019 Roadburn Festival, merging the sonic identities of its members' prior bands with a broader, more expansive heavy-psych approach. Early in 2020 the ensemble signed to Season of Mist and delivered Through the Hollow that October.