GENRE | APOCALYPTIC POST-ROCK
VERDICT | AMEN, BROTHER!
LABEL | CONSTELLATION
RELEASE | 10.16.12
Among the throngs shredding post-rock’s anxious and gloomy instrumental sounds, Montreal’s Godspeed You! Black Emperor has long been considered the gold standard. Their magnum opus, F♯ A♯ ∞, dropped back in 1998 and has remained a blueprint ever since. Their first LP in a decade, ‘Alleujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, probably won’t go down as Godspeed’s weirdest or most psyche-altering record, but it does serve as a fantastic introduction to the Godspeed name and the trademark sounds that have made them king.
Opener “Mladic” is the most straightforward rock number the band’s ever made; an important piece of catharsis that’s usually hidden between the group’s minimalist sounds of desolation.
Centerpiece “We Drift Like Worried Fire” is in the classic Godspeed wheelhouse: dramatic buildups, booming climaxes, and every stringed instrument under the sun vying for your attention.
If there’s ever been a thesis statement for the band, “Fire” is it.
Coupled with two drone pieces, ‘Allelujah! works best as a litmus test for the uninitiated and another helping of the good stuff for the devout.
Regardless, the end of days never sounded more inviting.
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