Subsonic Night Shift is a newer heavy rock outfit out of Gothenburg, Sweden, built around three musicians with real mileage in the city’s rock scene. Bassist Zvonko Hvizdak comes over from Banned in G.B.G., guitarist Rat Westlake previously played in Cherokee Death Cats, and vocalist Göran Florström brings experience from both Generous Maria and Marionet. The trio came together under the Subsonic Sounds banner and introduced themselves with the debut single “Karmic Cycle” in January 2026, a five and a half minute track that laid out their heavy, riff-driven sound right out of the gate.
“Closed Eyes” arrived June 19, 2026 as the follow-up, and it pushes further into the same heavy territory, running just over six minutes, their longest release yet. The song sits at the intersection of alternative rock and stoner rock, a combination that gives the band a thick, weighty sound without tipping fully into straight metal territory.
Closed Eyes
“Closed Eyes” was written jointly by all three members, and it shows in how locked-in the arrangement feels. Where “Karmic Cycle” served as an introduction, this one digs in deeper and darker, built around the idea that the things we’re most afraid of can be turned into weapons used against us. It’s a heavier, more oppressive listen than the debut, and it recently caught outside attention too, getting singled out alongside a couple of other emerging acts for leaning hard into raw, unfiltered production instead of chasing anything glossy or radio-ready.
The guitar work carries a lot of the track’s weight, locking into thick, sludgy riffs that give the stoner rock side of the sound its identity, while the bass sits low and constant underneath, providing a steady, driving pulse instead of just filling space. Florström’s vocals lean commanding rather than melodic, delivered with a distant, almost otherworldly remove well suited to the song’s bleak subject matter, and both the guitar and vocal performances do a lot of the heavy lifting in getting the song’s intensity across. The extended runtime gives all of it room to build rather than rushing through, letting that intensity accumulate instead of front-loading it. For a band still just two singles into their catalog, it’s a confident, patient way to establish an identity, prioritizing mood and weight over hooks, and it doesn’t leave much room for half measures along the way.
Final Thoughts
“Closed Eyes” shows real growth from “Karmic Cycle,” a heavier and more developed listen from a Gothenburg trio still early in building out their sound. Between the pedigree in the lineup and the confidence on display here, Subsonic Night Shift feels like a band worth keeping an eye on.
You can find Subsonic Night Shift on Spotify, on Facebook, and on Instagram. What did you think of the single? Stay tuned to MusicOnTheRox.com for all your music news and reviews.
