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Unfortunately with post-rock it’s very hard to avoid the inevitable comparisons. Without a vocalist there’s nothing that particularly marks a band, if you heard an unreleased song from Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai, Yndi Halda, Do Make Say Think, Russian Circles, Caspian, Red Sparowes, Up-C Down-C Left-C Right-C ABC + START I would challenge you to name me who that band was. Now if you had say a new David Bowie song, or a new Black Sabbath song you’re likely to know the artist as the vocals are distinctly recognisable. Thus is the problem with instrumental music. Be it rightly or wrongly is for you to decide, but it invariably gets thrown into the same pot where as other genres would sub-divide and stand their own much more. There’s one thing that is unquestionably easy to tell when you’re a fan of post-rock and that’s what’s good, what’s too derivative, what’s bad, and what’s just plain boring.
Fortunately for This Will Destroy You they fall smack bang in the good post-rock melting pot.
Dawdling in at a running time of 51:32 this 7-track behemoth is a brooding, intricate and dramatic piece of work from this Texan quartet following on from 2006’s “Young Mountain”. Released through Magic Bullet Records (Old Man Gloom, Cave In, Doomriders & Boy Sets Fire) and recorded/produced with John Congleton (Explosions In The Sky, Modest Mouse & The Appleseed Cast) the overall package (It comes in a nice digipak with ornate artwork) is one of professionalism and gives an air of grandeur to the band’s new album.
Some parts of this, their self-titled effort, could have got slashed to the cutting room floor, with some sections drifting in to the uneventful world of background music, or grandiose pomposity such as the start of opening track “A Three-Legged Workhorse” that really doesn’t get going until about a minute and a half into the song. I realise they are trying to set a bleak scene, create the right mood, the subtle balance for the listener, but all it makes me do is hit fast forward till we get to where the song truly starts making head way.
When it does ease itself into the haunting melodies and gradually builds (Post-rock bands do love the quiet/loud dynamic don’t they!) it competes on a level with Mogwai and Explosions In The Sky and rightly so holds its ground. This Will Destroy You, when they are good, they’re really good. Introducing manipulated sounds as the crescendo of the song erupts adds to the dour feel of the track and sounds far more dark and brooding than some of their more modern contemporaries.
“Villa Del Refugio” for me is where they fall into background music territory; “Threads” picks it up again when the drums join the tour-de-force and elevate This Will Destroy You once again as the song effortlessly builds into a truly epic beast.
This Will Destroy You are definitely on a path to be considered one of the greats of the post-rock genre, and “This Will Destroy You” is a worthy stepping stone for them to reach this goal. With further refinement they’ll succeed I’m sure, and for now if you’re a fan of the genre, and the bands in general then I suggest you bring This Will Destroy You into your life.
Listen: www.myspace.com/thiswilldestroyyou
