21 years into their career and the stubbornly enigmatic Canadian post-rock cult legends still maintain a mystique that provokes a stunning degree of reverence and a fervent anticipation for each of their releases. The fact that this is only their fifth album means fans haven’t been subjected to an overindulgence, and their material remains something to be treasured, savoured.
After a decade-long gap between ‘Yanqui U.X.O.’ and 2012’s ‘’Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!’, the arrival of ‘ Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress’ seems pretty swift in relative terms.
Listening to to the four tracks on this latest offering, it’s easy to hear why people get so revved up about their work. Four tracks yes, but they define epic, and the opener, ‘Peasantry, Or Light! Inside of Light’ is exemplary, transitioning through a succession of movements to conclude in a very different place from where it began. More than merely a track, it’s a musical journey.
‘Lamb’s Breath’ ends not with a classic post-rock crescendo, but an eternal hum – not even a drone, but most definitely a hum.
‘Asunder, Sweet’ is an agonising deep drone of noise than ambulates and yawns into the abyss for a gut-wrenching six and a half minutes. A bowel-trembling piece that sinks lower, darker, deeper with every crushing chord and crashing cymbal, it’s a spectacular and powerful piece.
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‘Piss Crowns are Trebled’ has a doodlesome prog vibe and build and builds over the course of its 14-minute duration. And it build and it builds. And it builds. In other words, by the 10-minute point it’s reached a point that’s beyond immense,and keeps on going. A grinding bass throbs and churns beneath a marching drum, over which guitars soar skywards. It’s not all about noise, but a sense of grandeur. As it rises to its ultimate and inevitable climax, you just don’t want it to stop. Ever.
Of course, it does, but it concludes an utterly triumphant return that once again proves that Godspeed are in a league of their own.
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