Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a highly revered post-rock band from Montréal, Québec, Canada consisting of guitarist/keyboardist Efrim Menuck, bassist Mauro Pezzente, guitarist Mike Moya, bassist Thierry Amar, guitarist David Bryant, drummer/percussionist Aidan Girt, violinist Sophie Trudeau, film projector Karl Lemieux, drummer/percussionist Timothy Herzog & film projector Philippe Léonard. Their debut album F♯A♯∞ & more specifically the sophomore effort Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven! would become landmarks in experimental rock subgenre, disbanding for a period of time after Yanqui U.X.O. came out. They returned a decade later with ‘Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! & ‘Asunder, Sweet & Other Distress’ during my high school years followed by Luciferian Towers & G_d’s Pee at State’s End!. 3 years after the latter, GY!BE’s returning for their 8th full-length studio LP.
“Sun Is a Hole Sun Is Vapors” starts us off by taking the post-rock sound that the band is known for & fusing it with chamber music for roughly 5 & a half minutes whereas “Baby’s in a Thundercloud” epically continues to put an emphasis on timbre, texture & atmosphere over traditional conventions while often embracing Western Classical influences further. “Raindrops Cast in Lear” is another excellent chamber/post-rock hybrid to finish the LP’s first half while “Broken Spires at Dead Kapital” could be my least favorite track here although I appreciate the drone-spin on Western Classical music. “Pale Spectator Takes Photographs” primarily builds itself around these stellar, tension-raising guitars & “Grey Rubble – Green Shoots” finishes with an outstandingly melancholic post-rock/chamber music single.
Inspired by the ongoing war between Israel & Hamas that officially began a year ago this upcoming weekend, what the post-rock titans get across during the 6 track/55 minute listening experience is the old world order hardly claimed to care & this new century will be even crueler. Needless to say, it culminates in calling for everyone everyone to hold on & not give up by choosing your side in the conflict naming itself after the amount of people who’ve lost their lives 4 months after it all started since recording began during the winter of bombs. They take everything that made G_d’s Pee at State’s End! enjoyable minus the field recordings & channel their frustrations with Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Score: 4.5/5
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