Godspeed you Black Emperor! - slow riot for new zero kanada

[Blackwinged]

[font=Arial,Helvetica][size=-2]Godspeed you Black Emperor are one of those bands that go far beyond any type of description or musical genre placement. The band has often been described as being an orchestral rock band. While that description does work on certain parts of their music, it still can be slightly misleading. For example I’ve heard tons of rock bands from England that incorporate orchestral elements into their music. The music of Godspeed you Black Emperor is something much different than any of these bands. Their music is generally very slow and bleak sounding with symphonic elements, piano, and the usual guitar, bass, and drums. This is definitely something that’s going to appeal to fans of dismal, gloomy, depressing music. <p> The first song on this two song EP is called ‘moya.’ The song starts out very slow, and as it progresses through out its eleven minutes it builds up more and more. The guitars and drums are played at a sluggish pace for the better part of this whole song. At about the six or seven minutes things began to pick up a little as the guitars and drums are played a whole lot faster. The violin present in this song is absolutely beautiful sounding through out the entire eleven minutes. As the song draws to its end things become very slow once again with just the violin present. A song that goes far beyond any words, and its simply a must hear track. <p>The second song ‘bbf3’ follows very closely to this first song, but there are some significant differences. Clocking in at almost eighteen minutes in length this song also features some vocals. Err… well sort of that is. The vocals really can’t be considered vocals at all since there simply just spoken passages blended together with the music. In fact this song sounds like two people having a normal conversation with the music alongside them. Very bizarre indeed but that’s just one of the many things that make this band so intriguing. <p>One of the other very fascinating characteristics about this release is that nowhere on the cd does it mention the two track names or even the bands name (other than in the liner notes). The Hebrew lettering on the cover says ‘tohu va vohu’ a reference to biblical creationism. ‘bbf3’ stands for ‘blaise bailey finnegan III’ a variation on the name of former Iron Maiden vocalist blaze bayley. <p>All together Fans of dark, depressing, ominous music will be absolutely amazed by this band. I’ve only known of their existence for a few months now myself, and within this time I’ve become very obsessed with their music. Do yourself a favor and go check out this great band. <p>May 21, 2003<br>
By Blackwinged<br>
8.5 of 10 <p>[/size][/font]

 

[LuminousAether]

What you forgot to mention is that this ep is the only consistent release in their catalogue. Sadly, their second best release, Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven, is plagued by "songs" that are mostly found sounds with none of the post rock that they are famous for. Two of the four tracks are plagued by this, with the other two tracks being quite excellent. Their latest release, Yanqui UXO is a by the numbers affair, it's almost tediously boring. I couldn't sit through the whole thing once, even though it dropped the found sounds I found so irritating. It just lacked any spark, being some of the most abysmally boring music that I have ever heard.

I would suggest Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky for bands in the same style that are better and more consistent.

That said, by far the best post rock band I have heard in a long time is Aereogramme. They are far more vocally based than most, and they have more of a traditional song format, but their latest release Sleep and Release is almost as good as the beloved Slint album Spiderland. It ranges from an orchestral down tempo electronic based style to screaming mixed with pounding abrasive guitars, similar to Mogwai's or Explosions in the Sky's tendency to go from very mellow acoustic music to an almost death metal-heavy and intense style. What sets them apart, is the fact that they utilize vocals throughout. Mogwai has some vocals, but not much. Explosions in the Sky are pretty much completely instrumental.

 

[Blackwinged]

Very interesting. I'll have to check out those bands you mentioned.

 

[[0hr]Sunlapse]

Personally, I like the sounds found on "Lift yr skinny...." I think they add to the ambience, atmosphere and wierdness.... They are part of why it is the best gybe album. Now only if they could drop their annoying and hypocritical political agenda.....