2012 - Post-Rock I

I cover a lot of styles on this blog, but one of the genres I've listened to the most this year (though haven't covered as much of it) has been post-rock. As always, EPs are reviewed from 1-8 and full-lengths from 1-10.

TwinSisterMoon - Bogyrealm Vessels (2012)

Band: TwinSisterMoon
Country: Vitré, France
Style: Psychedelic Folk/Ambient
Label: Handmade Birds

My first introduction to TwinSisterMoon was several months ago when a good friend of mine (J. Rosenthal) was posting about how great this project was. Like most things he recommends, I looked into it and found quite a plethora of material to listen to. Having said that, I only just started listening to the project's stuff when I found out about this album.
Being the solo project of a one Mehdi Ameziane, this project has gained some notoriety for its rather wide spectrum of ideas on albums. Taking cues from haunting pieces of ambient music, lo-fi folk tunes, or the occasional extended drone track can all be found in the project's back catalog, and is essentially what you'll find on here, minus the drone songs. In a way I'd call it a schizophrenic sort of album because it jumps back and forth between the ambient pieces and folk songs with little to no intermingling between the two on here, though, in a way, it's also what makes the album quite the endearing little bugger that it is. By switching between the two styles for every other track it does provide a sense of relief, of sorts, in that whether or not you enjoy the ambient parts, a short folk tune will follow, or the other way around. Sure, the pattern is a bit predictable, but it works for what the album was set out to do. In a way it almost felt like someone got Brian Eno and John Darnielle in a room together and told them to write songs completely independently, and this record is the result of it. It's really only on The Mirror Land where you get a seamless transition from one style to the other with no gap or break in between, just effortless fluidity and beauty tucked into a six minute package.
It has to be said that no matter whether Ameziane is doing ambient or folk tunes, there is an inherent beauty in his writing. In the handful of times I've listened to this album, whether it was during the day or at night, I never felt any sort of darkness or anything that sounded like it was influenced by anger or sadness. Yes, there's a certain degree of melancholy, but it's sort of a joyful melancholia that isn't found on a whole lot of releases. I don't expect a bunch of people to rush out and check this out right away, it really isn't an "exciting" album, but what it does have on its side is beauty. Yes, I say a lot of albums are beautiful, but there's an innocence and naivety to it that gives it an almost childish sort of vibe; and I mean that in the best possible way. Ameziane's voice doesn't help in the childish vibe either, being very feminine sounding at times, though that isn't a bad thing when it comes to this style. It's very delicate and unassuming, and could easily fall into the background if you're not paying attention - which could be applied for both his vocals and the music itself.
In the end, the best that I can say about it is that it is a fantastically beautiful album that will stay with you if you let it. If you have the intention to just come into this and expect it to move or impress you, chances are that you will be disappointed, but if you come in with an open mind, you might just find a classic on your hands. If you enjoy folk or ambient music this is a must, but I'd say that if you just like beautiful and relaxing music in general this is worth checking out as well.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Colony Amnesia, The Mirror Land, Tunguska

Footpaths - Footpaths (2012)

Band: Footpaths
Country: Chicago, Illinois
Style: Psychedelic Folk/Ambient
Label: Independent

The work of the one man involved in this project has been quite busy this year with his various projects, and this is simply the latest in his string of releases. Taking his work in folk music into a more drone and ambient based direction, as opposed to the typical folk style. After hearing this project's rather well done ideas on the split with Bunrage earlier this year, I was very intrigued to hear these new songs.
On that aforementioned split release, Footpaths showed us a calming, ambient take on creating folk music, but it was still essentially that, folk music. An acoustic guitar and various other droning instruments. In that sense, this full-length is no different as you have an acoustic guitar (three different actual guitars but regardless), harmonium, melodica, pennywhistle, and voice, but the output has shifted slightly. For myself, I felt as if this was a more ambient and droning batch of songs with more tracks tending to wander off from softly plucked guitar passages into straight-up ambiance on several occasions. The opposite happens as well, where ambiance will lead into a guitar led part as on the beautiful Deepwater, MO. More often than not though, the songs feature a nice balance of the two. The production has also taken a step up from the material on the split as well. While it's still rather lo-fi and unpolished sounding, there aren't as many pops and hisses of distortion on here as there were before, which does up the ante in that regard.
Whether intentional or not, the album flows together as a single piece of music quite well. I had a problem mistaking where one track would finish and another would begin several times when listening to the album. Now, I wouldn't call that a problem but I do know that some people like a bit more separation in their tracks so they can figure out what track is which, I don't bring that group a lot mainly because I don't think that an album would be hurt by them, but this one might hit some of them the wrong way. I mean, yes, there are some notable differences in the playing styles from track to track, but if you're just casually listening to the album, as I was the first time I put it on, you'll press play and think to yourself, "How long was this track again," only to see that you're on track four of the album. In some ways I guess that could almost be seen as a benefit because when that did happen to me, the only real thing that guided me through was the atmosphere that each track created. I was not listening actively to what the guitars were doing, but the ambiance and background drones that drifted gracefully from ambitiously uplifting to calmingly melancholic.
In the end I guess the best I can say about this album is that it sets out exactly what it means to do, and that's an achievement into and of itself. It's not overly ambitious or groundbreaking, but each track sets a mood, whether that mood happens to be uplifting or melancholic, and paint portraits of a setting for the listener. Fans of the aforementioned folk, ambient, and drone genres will undoubtedly enjoy this, but if you dig more psychedelic music as well, you'll probably get a nice kick out of it as well.
Overall Score: 8
Highlights: Fort Lonesome, FL, Sacred Heart, OK

Beardfish - The Void (2012)

Band: Beardfish
Country: Gävle, Sweden
Style: Progressive Rock/Metal
Label: InsideOut

There are obviously hundreds of retro bands trying their hand at 70's psychedelia and prog-rock but Beardfish always stuck out to me. They may not have had the most original of sounds but they knew the style, and they did it well. So I was rather taken aback by this album when I first started reading things about it and wasn't quite sure what to make of it.
As I'm sure I've made clear in past reviews, I really love progressive music, and I am a fan of 60s and 70s prog-rock, so saying that I have been a fan of Beardfish shouldn't come as some sort of surprise to anyone. But putting on this album after reading that this was the band's most metal influenced record, I couldn't help but feel some sort of apprehension towards what I was hearing. I've always enjoyed Beardfish because they had that very quirky, almost laughable sense of stringing certain melodies together into sections that were just fun and interesting, but the first few tracks on this album didn't give me any sense of that. Yes, they were definitely some of the heaviest material has written, but they didn't have that sense of fun that I liked about the band. That's not even saying they abandoned that progressive sound, because there are several riffs that come from that side of their influences, but the first handful of tracks just didn't do anything for me. There were some metal influences on last year's Mammoth album, but that album was still very much in line with what the group had been doing for years. I'm a metal guy, I really love the stuff (obviously), but this just did nothing for me. I listen to Beardfish because I want to hear quirky, fun, and somewhat lighthearted prog-rock, not some kind-of serious metal mixed with prog-rock.
It isn't until track five, This Matter of Mine, that something managed to grab ahold of me. I guess I should make it clear that even though this is by far the band's most metal influenced record, it is still a record that draws from prog-rock, classic rock, blues, and jazz fusion to name a few - but those are the moments and tracks that I would much rather hear. I'd much rather hear the band rip-off Zappa than rip-off Sabbath. Luckily, from pretty much that point on the album does improve in both songwriting and interest, with much more fun melodies popping up and destroying the whole serious mode that the album had been in for the first few tracks, perfectly demonstrated in the instrumental Seventeen Again which has all the tropes that I love from the band all wrapped up in a nice seven and a half minute package. But for all of what this album is and isn't the biggest shock came in the form of Ludvig & Sverker, a song that sounds like it could have come out of some rock opera or musical theater production. Despite my aversion to musicals, it is arguably the best track on this entire album because it musically captures everything that the lyrics are describing. I don't talk about lyrics too much in my reviews but this is one of the few cases where they are married to the music to near perfection.
It's a decent album, but far from being my favorite from the band. I miss the embrace of humor and fun in their music, this album just felt a little too unremarkable for my tastes. Nevertheless, I'd still suggest at least going back and listening to their back catalog if this one doesn't catch your fancy.
Overall Score: 7.5
Highlights: This Matter of Mine, Seventeen Again, Ludvig & Sverker

Becoming The Archetype - I Am (2012)

Band: Becoming The Archetype
Country: Atlanta/Dacula, Georgia
Style: Progressive Death Metal/Metalcore
Label: Solid State

In my opinion, I've always thought that Becoming The Archetype was a badass name for a band. I didn't care about the reasons why it was chosen or it's religious and spiritual connotations, it just sounded really cool. In addition to that the band have always put out some of the best metalcore-esque I've heard, so I was really looking forward to this album, even knowing that like half the band had been replaced.
Despite how much I was looking forward to this album, I have to say that from the first listen onward, I was only disappointed. I'm not sure how much input the three new members had on the writing of this album, but this is a huge letdown in so many departments, songwriting included. So, I'll address that first. In the past, regardless of whether or not an album was more original or interesting than others, I've always held the belief that the guys in BTA knew how to write really good songs. Their first three full-lengths, Terminate Damnation, The Physics of Fire, and Dichotomy, I think are all great albums that each express an idea and show a different side to the group. Now, I wasn't overly crazy about last year's Celestial Completion, but it was plain to see that the band were at least going out on a limb and trying out newer ideas that included elements from post-metal, ska, and symphonic music so I accepted that that was more of an album based on experimentation rather than on strong songwriting, which was fine. Leading up to this album, obviously with the inclusion of a new rhythm section and vocalist, the writing would differ in some sense, and the band came out and said that this would be a return to their older sound and would feature some of their most technical material yet.
I'm not sure if I feel lied to or just disappointed by that statement. Yes, this is a somewhat technical album, and I'll come out and say that it may just be my fault for thinking that the entire album would be reminiscent of a track like The Time Bender, which was released early on. Sure, the track wasn't anything all that special, but if that's the route that they were taking on here, fine, but aside from that track and a few other on here, this album did not live up to what I expected. The Physics of Fire, I think, is a far more technically proficient and interesting album than this album. This is also the closest album I think the band have ever put out to sounding like a stereotypical metalcore group. That tag has been with the group since day one, but on all four previous full-lengths they've managed to always put that "progressive" tag at the forefront either through experimentation or technicality, this just feels very safe and uninteresting. The band have used breakdowns in the past, I don't have a problem with breakdowns inherently, but I feel like you need to earn the right to use them in a song, not rely on them as a crutch, but this album has so many that are just so dull it's almost depressing. By the way, there's also a bit of a djent thing on a couple of tracks on here, something I really didn't need to hear from this band.
But, and this was probably one of the most irksome things when listening to the album, new lead vocalist Chris McCane has absolutely no personality coming through his growls and yells. Former vocalist/bassist Jason Wisdom may not have been the picture of originality, but he had a tone that was very powerful and direct, McCane just sounds very faceless. Guitarist Seth Hecox has performed clean vocals in the past, but I've always found his voice more grating than enjoyable; and on here he's at his peak of annoyance. The clean vocals he delivers fall flat on so many occasions it seriously made me wonder if he was even trying. The chorus on The Sun Eater was spectacularly irritating to listen to and was probably the most annoying chorus I've heard all year.
This was an incredibly disappointing album from a band that I actually consider to be one of the best groups to emerge from the early 2000's metalcore scene. It's totally uninteresting and rather dull in more than a couple spots. If you're a fan of the band, check it out, but otherwise go listen to the group's other full-lengths before you even consider checking this out.
Overall Score: 6
Highlights: The Time Bender, The Planet Maker, I Am

Dysrhythmia - Test of Submission (2012)

Band: Dysrhythmia
Country: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Style: Progressive Metal
Label: Profound Lore

I have to be honest and say that this is my first Dysrhythmia album. I've certainly been aware of them due to Colin Marston's involvement with them, but I've never taken the time to really look into them. I actually wasn't even going to cover this originally, but I had space on a CD and put it on so lo-and-behold, is a review for it.
Honestly, I'm pretty much at the point where I could listen to anything Marston puts his name on or associates himself with and be impressed by it in some fashion, this album being no exception. I was somewhat apprehensive to listen to this band simply because it's an instrumental progressive metal band, and god knows how many of those there are out there, and how many are actually worth your time, but I finally gave in and listened to this album; and you know what, it was actually pretty good. It's certainly a far cry from the Dream Theater worship of most prog-metal outfits, not that that was what I expected from this band at all, but there was always that sense of worry that it would just dive into needless self-indulgence and wankery. I was actually pretty surprised by how focused the band was on songwriting, these are all songs and never felt like a rhythm section backing up a guitar player who wants to solo a lot or show off his chops. It's very tastefully crafted with plenty of trademark ideas from both Marston and guitarist Kevin Hufnagel's other gigs. Opener In Secrecy was a great place to start this album off with some great Krallice-esque sliding harmonies though keeping the track noticeably shorter and slower than any of Krallice's material. The title-track opens up with some very bassy tapping sections that recall a bit of Behold... The Arctopus' legendary technical status. Those are just the first two tracks, and I can assure you the album becomes less similar to other groups as it goes on - but that's a good thing.
This was definitely a grower of an album though. I did enjoy it when I first listened to it, but I was definitely less enchanted with it than I am now. There were several more songs that I didn't quite grasp but have since grown on me. Probably the first song that struck me and I connected with almost immediately was the melodic Running Towards The End which just has one of the most beautifully crafted guitar melodies I've heard all year. There are similar moments on other tracks that strike a similar chord with me but that was the first track that really caught my attention and made me want to continue to listen to the album. But to say that this is a melodic record would not be entirely correct, while I didn't find it all that heavy, there are certainly parts of dissonance that I really enjoy. Those short bursts of technicality that just remind you that these guys aren't just making another melodic instrumental record, these guys like to make something a bit more challenging for the listener.
I was very impressed by what the album wound up being and I'm glad I took the chance to actually listen to it. This is also the sort of album that makes me want to go back and listen to the group's older material to see what I've been missing out on for so long. Anyway, if you dig progressive or jazz influence metal or rock this is an album I definitely recommend checking out.
Overall Score: 8.5
Highlights: The Line Always Snaps, Running Towards The End, Like Chameleons

Mono - For My Parents (2012)

Band: Mono
Country: Tokyo, Japan
Style: Post-Rock/Chamber Music
Label: Temporary Residence

In the world of post-rock, I think that you'd be hard pressed to find a band that is as respected and well liked as Mono (other than GY!BM). I actually found Mono much more accessible than GY!BM back when I was first getting into the genre and so I obviously liked them first. Plus, they're from Japan, and music from Japan is usually interesting at the very least, and Mono is no exception.
I think Mono are a great band. They've really carved out a sound for themselves which is very emotionally engaging, unique to themselves, and yet still very accessible to the everyday person. Though they've moved away from the straight-up post-rock sound that they first started with and have evolved into some far more grandiose and lush through the incorporation of a live orchestra, they've always maintained that huge melancholy that is so heartbreaking in their melodies. I remember the first time I saw the tag "chamber music" attached to them I was a little surprised but after a minute I did actually think that it worked. Since they brought in a pit orchestra on 2009's Hymn to The Immortal Wind they've changed into something a lot more cinematic and powerful sounding but have retained that emotional quality that makes it feel so personal and intimate. I think that's the key to what's kept them so readily appealing to so many people despite not being quite so "hip" as a group like Explosions In The Sky or something like that.
I have to say that even though I really liked and enjoyed Hymn to The Immortal Wind, I do think that this album tops it. It feels more refined and focused. There aren't as many shorter breaks that act as interludes on here, just five straight songs and I think that works better. The songs are just so powerful and breaking them up has worked for other albums, I think it was a good choice to just let each one stand up on their own without giving the listener any time to breathe in between. It gives off a very calming sense of sadness and melancholy that might not have been so powerful if you had those two or three minute interludes on here. To return to the use of the orchestra for a moment though, I've read a couple of reviews and comments where people have said that this is less of a "rock" album and feels more like a score, so they didn't feel as involved when listening to it. That is a very valid point and criticism of this album, if you are looking for more of a "rock" listen, I'd say go back and listen to the band's early albums because this isn't rocking in the slightest. It could certainly work as a score, and there were a few points that did remind me of Icelandic pianist/composer Ólafur Arnalds' recent material, especially on album centerpiece Dream Odyssey. So even though I have no problem with the fact that this is less rock and more chamber (I hope that makes sense), I could certainly see that not being the case with others.
I think this is a great piece of work and the band's crowning achievement thus far. For me, Mono is a group that just seems to get better with every album they put out and this is certainly one of the best albums I've heard all year. For post-rock fans, this is a must, but I'd strongly recommend it to anyone looking for some deeply emotional and atmospheric music as well. Do not pass this album by.
Overall Score: 9
Highlights: Nostalgia, Unseen Harbor