Album Review: In A House Of Heartbeats – Divination Of Dreams (Ripcord Records)

Instrumental trio In a House of Heartbeats (Essex, UK) have been crafting soundtracks for euphoric nightmares since 2022. Their atmospheric and cinematic sounds blend elements of post-rock, doom, goth, and shoegaze, drawing further inspiration from arthouse movies, silent cinema, folklore, and the subconscious mind.

In August 2025, the band signed with the Scottish post-rock/metal label Ripcord Records for their debut album ‘Divination of Dreams’, which was released on January 23rd, 2026.

I do love music that is strong enough to deliver expression without vocals, to showcase feeling without words, and create an immersive experience with just instruments. It’s why a lot of my favourite bands are instrumental only bands and it’s why In a House of Heartbeats have impressed me so much here.

A head-turning debut album that draws from a wide array of genres and expertly balances melody, atmosphere, and cinematic sounds with the heavier side of things. Divination of Dreams is the sort of record that captures the imagination to such an extent that one listen becomes two, then three, then four, and so on. Suddenly, you realise that you’ve lost hours to it already and it’s all you can think about both when awake and asleep.

Now that’s leaving an impression.

So, what is about the album that creates such an experience? It’s a number of things and how those things come together to create the perfect storm of varied rock and metal music. From delicious depth via post and gaze elements, to moments of fascinating melodic eccentricity, to punchy flareups of rawer heaviness, and intense cinematic ambience. There’s so much creativity on show and so many times where the mind is pulled in wildly different directions as it tries to keep up. Yet, this is never frustrating, rather, it’s fascinating. There may be no better example of this brilliance then nine-plus minute Cambion.

I don’t even think that’s even the best track on the album (that’s the incredible Oneiromancy for Beginners) but it is one of the more elaborate tracks that shows off so much of what In a House of Heartbeats are capable of.

It is just one part of a bigger journey though and a journey that has an incredible number of ups and very few downs.

In a House of Heartbeats – Divination of Dreams Track Listing:

1. In A Perpetual State of Wonder
2. Cambion
3. Parasomniac
4. Oneiromancy for Beginners
5. A Head Full of Ghosts
6. Drift Into Sleep…
7. …Perchance To Dream

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