Red Sparowes - Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun

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Jul 5, 2003
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Red Sparowes – Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun
Neurot Recordings – NR-045 – September 19th, 2006
By Jason Jordan

redsparowes.jpg


“The art of government is the organization of idolatry.”
- George Bernard Shaw

“We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember that we are not descended from fearful men, not from men who feared to write, to speak, to associate and to defend causes that were, for the moment, unpopular.”
- Edward R. Murrow

“We shall require a substantially new manner of thinking if mankind is to survive.”
- Albert Einstein

^ Quotations found in the liner notes.

“The Great Leap Forward Poured Down upon Us One Day Like a Mighty Storm, Suddenly and Furiously Blinding Our Senses. We Stood Transfixed in Blank Devotion As Our Leader Spoke to Us, Looking Down on Our Mute Faces with a Great, Raging, and Unseeing Eye. Like the Howling Glory of the Darkest Winds, This Voice Was Thunderous and the Words Holy, Tangling Their Way Around Our Hearts and Clutching Our Innocent Awe. A Message of Avarice Rained Down and Carried Us Away into False Dreams of Endless Riches. ‘Annihilate the Sparrow, That Stealer of Seed, and Our Harvests Will Abound; We Will Watch Our Wealth Flood In.’ And by Our Own Hand Did Every Last Bird Lie Silent in Their Puddles, the Air Barren of Song As the Clouds Drifted Away. For Killing Their Greatest Enemy, the Locusts Noisily Thanked Us and Turned Their Jaws Toward Our Crops, Swallowing Our Greed Whole. Millions Starved and We Became Skinnier and Skinnier, While Our Leaders Became Fatter and Fatter. Finally, As That Blazing Sun Shone Down upon Us, Did We Know That True Enemy Was the Voice of Blind Idolatry; and Only Then Did We Begin to Think for Ourselves.”

^ Paragraph found on the back sleeve – each sentence is a song title, which makes for nine in all, though the disc only contains eight tracks. Someone hire a private investigator.

“The story told here is true. In an attempt to vastly increase economic gain, The Great Leap Forward was a movement started by the Chinese government in 1958. Over the course of this campaign, plan after plan, including the killing of millions of sparrows, failed miserably. As a result, 30 – 50 million people died of starvation in just under two years.”
- Red Sparowes

^ Found in liner notes.


mao.jpg


Context
oftentimes

chineseflag.png


puts
everything

greatleapforward.jpg


in
perspective.

housesparrow.jpg



“Can you honestly divorce
redsparowes-1.jpg
from
atthesoundlessdawn.jpg
, and talk about one like the other doesn’t exist?”
“Yes, I believe I can.”
“Lying?”
“Yes.”
“So what is different, or maybe we should start by pointing out similarities?”
“Of course. Well, with members of Neurosis, Isis, The Halifax Pier, Angel Hair, and Pleasure Forever on board, that should give you a good indication of just how seasoned Red Sparowes are – aside from their own accomplishments.”
“Go on.”
“Instrumental post-rock. Um, some parts of Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun remind me of Isis, Pelican, laidback Cult of Luna (on later tracks), and ultra-slow Ostinato (on tracks that appear later).”
“Differences between
redsparowes-1.jpg
and
atthesoundlessdawn.jpg

“Every Red Heart… sounds calmer and tenser than its predecessor. Obviously not at the same time, but when the music centers on one or the other. It’s more experimental, too. At the Soundless Dawn is more emotional, however, though seems focused on delivering stellar music rather than making an actual point through said medium. In other words, ERH seems determined to make a greater impact than simply offering grade A rawk, but ultimately achieves both in the end.”
“Kickass.”
“Yeah, sure does.”
“Which do you prefer then?”
“I gotta go with
atthesoundlessdawn.jpg
, even though Every Red Heart Shines Toward the Red Sun is a fantastic album in its own right. You just can’t beat the first chunk of Soundless
“Your rating?”
rating.jpg

“So 8.5 out of 10?”
“Yeah.”

Thanks to Wikipedia for the pictures, and credit to the original posters.

UM’s Review Rating Scale

Official Red Sparowes Website
Official Neurot Recordings Website
 
I have no idea what any of that means, but we're allowed to post pictures in reviews? Man I wish I would have known for the Light This City review, their singer is hawt. I would have put a picture of her in there somewhere... :)
 
Oinkness said:
I have no idea what any of that means

Read it again. Concentrate! :zombie:

Oinkness said:
but we're allowed to post pictures in reviews? Man I wish I would have known for the Light This City review, their singer is hawt. I would have put a picture of her in there somewhere... :)

Occasionally I'll write an experimental review, but not reguarly since labels/bands/readers seem to prefer standard format. So until you get more established, I'd say wait on trying anything out of the ordinary. Here are a few that I've written in the past, though: War of Ages, Gorod, and Antigama. Plus I bought this and reviewed it of my own free will, so there's not quite an expectation to be entirely strait-laced.

Red Sparowes, at any rate, are great, but man, "Soundless" just plain rules.
 
Some of the stuff the guys say in that youtube vid with the howling glory song isn't entirely accurate, like the time the sparrows had to remain in flight before they dropped dead.
 
That's strange as heck, man. I got War of Ages's new album, Pride of the Wicked, and it totally sucks! It's like they turned into a Killswitch Engage tribute band or something. According to your review of their first CD, they must have evolved from As I Lay Dying into Killswitch, eh? Har har har... :(
 
Much excellent review. I have to say that I prefer "Every" to "At the Soundless" by quite a mile. It's much darker and experimental as you said, but I think it also is more emotionnal albeit being harder to get into. I gave it 8.5 too in my review.

Dev
 
This album is worthy of a 9/10, at least. It may be a slow paced album compared to most modern music, giving it somewhat of a doom or sludge-metal feel (if not a sound), but this isn't a bad thing. There are some parts towards the end which drag on a bit, being overly repetitive, but most of the album seems almost like a slower paced take on Pelican's TFIOTWBTT. But that is not to say that it is a clone by any means. It is almost like a jazz/metal hybrid in parts, which in no way reminds me of Pelican, and it gives this album a unique sound; not quite like anything I've heard. It is a creative effort, creating new sounds and blending some older/familiar sounds. You can tell these band members are artists at heart.

This all comes together to show that the Sparowes have what it takes to be among the best post-rockers out there. I'm digging the album and I'd recommend it to anyone exploring this genre for it is a damn fine example of post-rock/metal and it is one of my favorite albums from recent years.
 
The album has grown on me a lot. I think I like it better than the first now. Its fucking beautiful!

And I think they are definitely one of the best post-rock groups. I'd put them above almost all of them except gybe and mono.