Golf
Golf
Golf is ten tracks of downtuned instrumental hard rock by Ian Bloom. Drop D throughout, one guitar, one bass, drums, no singer, thirty-eight minutes. Out September 4, 2026.
Ten tracks, thirty-eight minutes, no singer. Drop D from the first bar to the last. One guitar, one bass, arranged drums, and nothing else on it.
Measured across the masters, the centre of energy sits between 290 and 760 Hz on every track and nothing carries more than two per cent of its content above 6 kHz. Almost no air, very little cymbal wash. Peaks land within a decibel of the ceiling and the level barely moves inside most of these songs.
Four tracks out of the gate at speed. Glacier halves the tempo and holds it for seven forty-two. Then Berserk angular, Mammals fastest, Rough flat and grinding, Instrument cycling, Ballistic coming apart.
The only words are four lines at the top of Savage. The guitar carries the melody after that.
Recorded alone in Los Angeles in under seventy-two hours, in order. Out September 4, 2026 on Natural Archive.
Record Note
Ten tracks, thirty-eight minutes, drop D throughout. One guitar, one bass, arranged drums, and four lines of vocal at the top of Savage. Four fast tracks, then Glacier at half tempo for 7:42, then a back half that re-accelerates and comes apart. Recorded by Ian Bloom alone in Los Angeles across four days, in order. Out September 4, 2026 on Natural Archive.
Analysis
Everything is drop D. One guitar, one bass, arranged drums. No keys, no acoustics, no stacked harmony parts. The riff carries the melody line.
Measured across the ten masters: the centre of energy sits between 290 and 760 Hz, and nothing carries more than two per cent above 6 kHz. The bass sits forward and often moves against the guitar instead of doubling it. Peaks land within a decibel of the ceiling on every track, and inside most songs the level moves less than five decibels.
Brutal is the brightest and the widest. Instrument is the darkest, nearly all of it under 400 Hz. Berserk puts about half its energy in one octave near the low E. Glacier has the least stereo spread on the album. Rough has the flattest level.
The running order: four fast tracks, Glacier at half tempo for seven forty-two, then Berserk, Mammals, Rough, Instrument, Ballistic. Mammals is the fastest thing here and the only track that fades. Ballistic drops the floor out at twenty-six seconds and again just after a minute ten, then finishes in two outros.
Sections repeat, stops are placed, solos are staged. Savage runs five choruses in three minutes. Destroyer cuts its second verse shorter than its first. Blunt stops before the solo. Glacier runs three solos and three bridges. Mammals interrupts itself twice.
Written and recorded in order across four days. Savage Sunday night. Destroyer and Brutal Monday. Blunt, Glacier, Berserk, Mammals and Rough Tuesday. Instrument and Ballistic Wednesday. Nothing was resequenced.
Four lines of vocal at the top of Savage: A savage / Freak me / A savage / Free me. Nothing after that.
Swagger put the frontman at the microphone. Golf does not have one.
Golf is released September 4, 2026 on Natural Archive. Streaming and edition links will be published here on release.
