Shattered - Dove Bomb: Single Review

Dove Bomb’s 'Shattered' thrives on contrast, fierce heavy guitars meets haunting vocals from frontwoman Chloe Gilbert. 

We open with a foreboding, jagged guitar riff, followed by an explosive scream. The sound is thick with raw energy, grounding any expectations, only for Dove Bomb to brush them aside. The vocals that pick up and drift down atop the energetic guitar are soft and almost angelic. Chloe sings as if she’s suspended in the space between the listener and the arena in which the instrumental takes place. 

“I’m reversing the tower,” she fiercely sings and then your suspension is broken as she screams “Shattered!”. The chorus is that relentless melody, attacking since the very first moment of the song, but given space to breathe; like we’re invited to thrash in the aftermath of the shattering. 

There’s a lethal guitar solo performed effortlessly by Brett Milan before hitting the breakdown, countered by Chloe’s own ethereal performance as she sings “breaking down / build it up / take the shards of what’s to come.” The song crescendos with another scream dropping into a final chorus, but as the music cuts out, one sustained chord signals that the ride isn’t over just yet. 

And then we hit the true catharsis of “Shattered.” A malevolent, almost blood-soaked guitar riff claws its way out from the silence, joined by layered vocals mirroring the notes at times, screaming the final lines.

“So steal my breath / and take my pain / clawed my way out / so shatter me now.”

“Shattered” feels heavy, soaked in the ache of betrayal and the longing to release what no longer serves. But it’s true magic lies in the defiance of Chloe’s voice ringing through the track. That’s what I took away from it; to become shattered, and within the aftermath, become unbreakable.

Photo by @_tg.media_fl_