Her Name Is Calla - The Heritage

Her Name is Calla. The Heritage. 2008. 3.5 stars.

The Heritage is a mini-album from a Leeds based post-rock band that places emphasis on haunting vocal performances and tense song writing as well as instrumental passages and atmosphere. The attention to lyricism, in tandem with melodramatic buildups, gives Her Name is Calla a slight advantage over the strictly musical aspirations of the competition. This is an emotional bunch whose hushed style sound somewhat similar to recent  genre-bending acts like Odawas and The Pax Cecilia. Aside from the progressive-tinged melancholy of the songs themselves, The Heritage features striking noise compositions that manipulate esoteric sounds into full-blown fits of psychedelia.

The contrast between emotional song craft and experimentation is striking and welcomed in a crowded field of thoughtless emulators. That being said, many of the epic adventures the band takes loose direction at times and meander dangerously off course. While everything from the delicate guitar work to the stark percussion is instantly compelling, the sheer weight of the work detracts from its immediate psychic impact. Given ample time to digest however, The Heritage is undeniably beautiful and deserving of repeated listens. In recognizing their own incredible potential, Her Name is Calla was not reluctant to show their ambition, even if it meant dragging down the otherwise succinct aspects of their sound. Despite its flaws however, The Heritage has enough gravity to make it a worthwhile addition to your post-rock playlist.

“Wren”

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 9th, 2008 at 8:47 pm and is filed under Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.