There’s a lot of heaviness in the air, dread, and yeah celebration for some, but it has to feel awfully dark there too. Deep down. Now more than ever, we could use positive distractions, something that doesn’t warp our understanding of what’s outside our doors but at least can let us escape mentally for a little bit. Allow us to take a deep breath now and again.

Denver-based metallic instrumental force Abandons arrive with their debut full-length “Liminal Heart,” and over four tracks, you’re lambasted with epic, doomy, post-metal-style drama that shakes the blood in your body. The creations here can provide that aforementioned gust into your imagination, opening a portal in your mind for you to slip into and let your agitated nerves cool. The band—guitarist/samplist Brenton Dwyer, bassist Ben Rosenberg, drummer/synth player/samplist Samuel Mowat—certainly has strains of titans such as ISIS, Neurosis, and Pelican, but there’s also more adventurous bends here and some delicacy that cools the jets when needed. It’s an album that can stimulate planning your escape, at least in your brain, and remind you there still can be positivity to mine.

“Habitats” begins in a wave of cosmic doom, driving harder as a voice sample talks of the surveillance state and a general sense of unease as technology expands. The heaviness becomes a bigger factor, crushing wills, gazey layers hanging over the crunch as a thick bassline flexes, heading into choppier waters. Melody emerges as a moody atmosphere takes hold, and then the leads catch fire and ricochet away. “Saudade” brings sounds gushing, guitars floating over a Floyd-like psychedelic stretch, letting your mind wander. Keys chill as the power jolts, slide guitars entering to add a hint of sun-stained emotion, the playing soaring before bowing out to static.

“New Mysteries” enters amid quotes about lucid dreaming, sending you into immersive cloud coverage and a near-semi-conscious state that generates warmth. The guitars fire and then cool, letting off breezes that soothe scarred flesh, the pressure building into an ambient burst. Guitars crunch as a whirring force picks up momentum, fading into a thick mist. “Smiling in the Midst of Two Armies” is the closer, a 16:53-long beast that bleeds into guitars awakening, rousing slightly as sounds drip, the drums tracing steps. Then the gargantuan split occurs, jolting and jostling, squeezing with dynamic force, the sludge elements getting stickier and more impenetrable. The guitars chug harder and then pull back, soundtracking strains of J. Robert Oppenheimer’s classic 1945 speech that discusses the impact of the atomic bomb and the deadly consequences of its existence. It’s both sobering and chilling, the playing gradually building into a volcanic force, an electric haze gasping, wooshing, the Oppenheimer quote, “I am become death, the destroyer of worlds,” repeating as noise spirals out into oblivion.

An escape from reality would be a welcomed thing, and Abandons aren’t necessarily trying to distract you from real life, but “Liminal Heart” can help get you there as it spreads its imaginative wings. This is immersive and arresting, and if instrumental doom is your thing like it is mine, it does provide a launching point for diving into something that doesn’t erode you mind and heart. This should keep your lungs working overtime, your blood coursing through your veins, and your mind considering something that isn’t world killing and just might help you rise above the misery.

For more of the band, go here: https://www.facebook.com/abandonsmusic

To buy the album, go here: https://abandons.bandcamp.com/album/liminal-heart