John Bemis
Blogs editor
@bemiscourant
There are many things that a name like ‘Godspeed You! Black Emperor’ could imply. It would be equally appropriate for one to assume that they are either an atmospheric black metal band or a one-manned noise project. Neither their name, their overwrought album titles, or apocalypse-obsessed music could ever suggest, though, that Quebec’s Godspeed could be critically renowned or even remotely important to a musical movement.
However, this loose-knit musical collective was essential and is continually lauded in the defining of post-rock music, paving the way for today’s Explosions in the Sky or Mogwai (whose album and song names are equally protracted). Sprawling, epic orchestral rock has assumed it’s quintessence throughout GY!BE’s sparse catalog.
With albums like Lift Yr Skinny Fists and F♯ A♯ ∞ now being dubbed as modern classics, the age-old assumption that every subsequent release will be equally flawless now haunts the band. It is on their fifth album, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, that Godspeed allow that expectation to dilute their creative process, embodying a musical cliche of themselves on an enjoyable, if frequently uninventive release.
The LP’s tracks are based upon the band’s multi-movement suite Behemoth, performed live throughout 2012 and recorded for the live album We Have Signal. Performing an album live before recording it can often beget a significant development upon it’s original form, yet Asunder falls short in dynamic intensity to it’s live iteration.
Opening movement Peasantry is a wholly conflicting listen. While it’s lumbering Doom-Metal riffage succeeds in classic Godspeed ominousness, the track becomes incessantly repetitive before giving way to an unusually triumphant folk melody. However monumental and captivating, the glee that occupies the song’s second half comes across as contrived, as if they were performing their own arrangement of a piece written for the Irish tin whistle. With such a slow tempo and an absence of dramatic build, these moments of harmonious glory seem pasted-on.
While the two lengthy drone pieces,’ Lambs Breath’ and ‘Asunder, Sweet’ that compose the album’s midsection flowed unpredictably in volume, the recorded versions sacrifice that suspense for stagnancy. The track’s shifting tonality still allows the tracks to capture brief attention, but the outcome lacks direction.
Such forays into noise and tape collaging aided Godspeed’s previous works as they built tension to an epic release. When such elements are not supports to a greater structure, the bands limited instrumental capabilities prevent them from making interesting experiments.
Closer Piss Crowns are Treble is the point of climax. A swelling composition that takes a fugal re-interpretation of the first track, it reaches the same explosive imagery as found on their last LP, Allelujah, Don’t Bend, Ascend!. While somewhat captivating, the air-tight mix doesn’t allow room for the piece to breathe. Drums thud rather than boom while the strings seem far too close to properly echo. The tracks lose their transportive quality without their proper atmosphere.
The Godspeed discography is one laden with rehashed musical ideas, yet there is never a sense that you’re getting the same record. Their carefully crafted realms may have seen a thematic repetition, yet each still held a fresh sonic quality that built upon those ideas. The few and far between moments of excitement or terror on Asunder are disappointing only because it seems as if Godspeed are lazily harping on the motifs they expect to be most effective.
While it may be inappropriate for one to assume that they will strike creative gold on every release, it’s just to expect a decent record at the least, given the consistently strong calibre of previous projects. Where their genius used to suspend disbelief, almost as aliens delivering musical prophetism, Asunder places them on the ground with us humans, just trying to impress one-another in haphazardly redoing what we do best.
Rating: 5/10
Listen to an excerpt of the first track, Peasantry.
