The Rock Blogger

World’s End Girlfriend. Hurtbreak Wonderland. 2007. 3.5 stars.

WEG is the solo project of Japanese virtuoso Katsuhiko Maeda who produces lush post rock songs tinged with neoclassical and break beat flourishes. Unlike WEG’s collaboration with Mono (see here), Hurtbreak Wonderland avoids sounding mournful and instead relishes in hallucinative fantasy, conjuring an Alice in Wonderland type of narrative as suggested by the astounding cover art.

The songs here are instrumental but are far removed from conventional rock dynamics, opting for wild pairings of melodic strings and intense electronic beats, creating a swirling experience similar to the work of Venetian Snares. Songs like “Birthday Resistance” and “100 Years of Choke” move from pleasant, classically inspired compositions into bombastic freak-outs, creating dramatic transitions that are often dizzying in their execution. Most of the album carries on in this fashion, as gorgeous piano, harp and brass fills are layered over the vivid drum and bass patterns.

Hurtbreak Wonderland is an incredibly detailed and eclectic album that consistently sounds organic and fresh, coaxing the listener to wander in its blossoming passages. Despite its technical prowess, some of the movements tend to drag on in spots, leaving portions of the album sounding unfocused. Maeda occasionally manages to anchor everything with his propulsive beats, but the surge of strings and keyboards is in constant lift, leaving some unresolved tension between the elements. Despite the often confounding juxtapositions here, Hurtbreak Wonderland is a beautiful and original record that clearly breaks new ground in the post-rock genre. The cornucopia of instruments and noises used here leaves plenty of room for continued exploration. In short, WEG has created a deep and dreamy effort that begs for multiple listens.

Birthday Resistance

Zebulon Pike . II: The Deafening Twilight . 2006. 4 stars .

A brilliant album from this underwritten Minnesota band. II: The Deafening Twilight is the epitome of progressive metal, somehow managing to capture the crushing bass rhythms and distortion of doom while still thundering forward with epically technical energy. Zubulon Pike are as awe-inspiring as post metal acts like Pelican or The Russian Circles, but they sound like they are having the most fun, changing tempos and reveling in fuzzed out riffs across these 5 monstrous songs, the longest being the 20 minute "Ashes of Xerxes, Breath of Titan".

The captivating pacing of this album is reason enough to give it a spin, as wiry guitar riffs spiral in tense, climatic cycles, evoking the dark astral sides of Isis and even Tool. There’s no vocals though, this is strictly an instrumental affair, making it a perfect metal album for post rock fans fond of Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky.

Overall, a wickedly fast and complex effort that is able to maintain direction and energy across its psychedelic marathons. The album’s cataclysmic sound might become emotionally draining across its hour plus duration, so come into this album prepared for long and immersing trip.

The Drift . Memory Drawings . 2008. 3.5 stars .

San Francisco’s The Drift specialize in chilled out, emotional post-rock that is heavily influenced by jazz and dub traditions, crafting a warm and boisterous sound that should please fans of Tortoise and Toronto’s own Do Make Say Think. Relying on tight interactions between the trumpet, synths, wiry guitars and offbeat drumming, the melodies on their sophomore album Memory Drawings are instantly captivating.

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Kayo Dot ’s upcoming Blue Lambency Downward is one of the most anticipated records of the year, continuing on with the band’s fusion of jazz rock with intense metal and avant-garde compositions.

Truly one of the more inspired and original post-metal acts around, Kayo Dot is sure to have another masterpiece on their hands come May 6 (close to my birthday too, hint hint). To tide you over until then, here are two of the new tracks, performed live last month. Thanks to ArchivesKey, whoever you are, for posting these on YouTube.

Note: because Kayo Dot’s songs are so long, one of these videos gets cut off prematurely. There is still a lot there though, so its worthwhile.

Blue Lambency Downward

Right Hand is the One I Want

As regular readers of this blog already know, I have been infatuated with an album called Deathconsciousness from Connecticut’s mysterious Have a Nice Life. Despite having no mainstream press coverage, no Wikipedia page or any mention on Pitchfork, this duo has generated a sizable cult following their debut double disc album which is receiving accolades all across the Internet.

For those of us wanting to know a little more about this band and their strange blend of post punk and shoegaze styles, Scene Point Blank recently interviewed the guys to learn a little more about their ambitions, their writing process and their future.

The most striking parts of the interview for me was the duo’s personal and insular approach to crafting their sound, as they wrote the record for themselves, with little attention payed to how others would receive their work.

Scene Point Blank: Was it a conscious decision to release the album yourself? If so, why?

Dan: We always knew we would release the record ourselves. Outside of those closest to us, hardly anyone was even aware that we were writing music. It’s just something we do, and have done consistently since we met. There is never a point when we aren’t writing or recording music…releasing the record was, and always has been, secondary to the act of writing it in the first place. To be honest, I’m surprised anyone likes it but us.

…

Scene Point Blank: What do you hope people take away from the whole Deathconsciousness release?

Dan: We would’ve written the exact same record if we were the last two people on Earth. It was recorded assuming that no one would ever hear it. If anyone does and they enjoy it, that’s great. I hope that happens. But that’s about as far as it goes.

I found this approach and attitude rather inspiring, as it lends to a creative process that is honest and uncompromising. Leaving the pressures of industry expectations and recognition aside allowed Have a Nice Life to truly explore their own thoughts and feelings without inhibition, leading to work of great conceptual sophistication. Its refreshing to see more bands taking up the DIY ethos, taking up self release strategies to maintain their artistic independence. Hopefully I can take some of these ideals with me when I go back to recording my own demos.

Anyways, in case you haven’t heard anything from these guys yet, I found one of their songs on YouTube.

Enjoy:

Have a Nice Life. The Future.

The Pax Cecilia. Blessed are the Bonds . 2007. 4.5 stars .

An epic and emotional album that defies classification, Blessed are the Bonds reveals the potential and aspirations of a young and compelling band. Crafting a diverse and majestic sound, The Pax Cecilia borrow elements from neoclassical, emo, ambient and post-rock genres and spins them together in a surprisingly lucid package.

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Gregor Samsa. Rest. 2008. 3.5 stars .

Gregor Samsa’s latest offering is a gentle post rock album that carefully lures the listener into a somnambulist daze. Taking a page from the otherwordly Sigur Ros, Gregor Samsa’s second full length is an abstract affair, with minimalistic compositions consisting of quiet piano lines, subtle drones, strings and whispering vocals, coming together in sparse, low key arrangements, rather than the climbing bombast often associated with the genre.

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A Silver Mt. Zion. 13 Blues for 13 Moons. 2008. 3 stars.

A Silver Mt. Zion, easily the most celebrated splinter project from the Godspeed You Black Emperor crew, return for their fifth full-length outing, spouting more anarchistic diatribes over intense and dramatic orchestral instrumentation. The gorgeous strings, pulse pounding drumming (courtesy of new member Eric Craven) and searing blasts of electric guitar remain intact and interact beautifully with each other over the four, 13 minute plus epics found here. While the stirring compositions build gracefully, with a greater emphasis on the soaring guitar bursts, the band’s newfound sense of urgency ultimately falls a little flat in its execution and once again, Efrim Menuck’s grating vocals are largely to blame.

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Jarboe/Justin K Broadrick. J2. 2008. 2.5 stars.

When I first heard that Justin Broadrick (of Jesu and Godflesh fame) was collaborating with Swans vocalist Jarboe on a new EP, I was thrilled. Broadrick’s knack for crafting haunting and powerful drones and serene shoegaze riffs, along with Jarboe’s chillingly beautiful soprano voice, seemed like a match made in post-metal heaven. Unfortunately, after trying my damnedest to get into this record, I find myself being immensely disappointed, knowing that both artists have accomplished so much more in the past.

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The Angelic Process. Weighing Souls With Sand. 2007. 3.5 stars.

Before disbanding at the end of 2007, Georgia’s The Angelic Process crafted this final epic, merging ambient and metal styles into a grand and mournful vision. Weighing Souls With Sand is best described as a massive wall of sound, reverberating with druggy shoegazing riffs and martial drumming, playing in the same league as post-metal bands like Jesu and newcomers Have a Nice Life.

While those other acts punctuate their sound with punk or industrial touches, The Angelic Process pushes more towards dark ambiance and experimentation, creating long emotive tracks that slowly unfold into fuzzed out and noisy climaxes, immersing you in their hazy atmosphere. Weighing Souls With Sand is a majestic accomplishment, with its hypnotic drones, ethereal and distant vocals and the sheer depth of its sound, the transcendental aspirations of the band are immediately fulfilled.

The only major criticism I can throw at this album is that the band far more concentrated on atmosphere than producing distinctive song structures, letting all the tracks bleed into each other with little variation between them. Whereas Jesu for instance will add to the variety on their releases by emphasizing different melodic elements, tones and vocal styles, The Angelic Process seem entranced by their own beauty and can’t avoid the sameness that falls across this otherwise fantastic record. However, if Weighing Souls is taken as a cohesive and psychedelic sonic experiment, rather than a collection of songs, than the listener is sure to find the whole experience rewarding. While the band is no longer creating music, as an unfortunate injury has left the guitarist unable to play fully, this release is a satisfying summation of an interesting trend in underground metal.