SOUNDTRACK: GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR-‘Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress’ [CST111] (2015).
In 2015, GY!BE released their so far last record. And it lasts a mere 40 minutes.
As with the previous record, there are two longer songs and two somewhat shorter ones. The album’s four tracks are based on “Behemoth,” played live numerous times since 2012 and previously recorded onstage for the concert series We Have Signal. (Absolutely worth a viewing if you like the band–this is a good recording).
“Peasantry or ‘Light! Inside of Light!'” has perhaps my favorite opening from any GY!BE album. After a series of drum beats, the big monolithic riff kicks in. It begins as two notes but slowly grows and morphs into something bigger. The bands rocks the riff for about 3 minutes, when there’s a brief guitar solo and a change in direction (with lots of chaos and noise). And then the song turns pretty and strangely uplifting–the violin riffs that punctuate the middle of the song are quite beautiful. For the last two or so minutes, the song really slows down, keeping that same basic melody but adding a slow guitar playing the riff. It’s capped off with more of those soaring violin riffs. At ten minutes total, it’s one of their shorter “epic” pieces, but I think it’s a great one.
“Lambs’ Breath” (almost ten minutes) begins as a seamless continuation of the previous part, opening with noisy static guitar sounds and droney chords. This track is almost ten minutes long and it goes through many different waves of noise. There’s some echoed sound effects and static that more or less drop out into a quieter drone about 3 minutes in. The quiet (very quiet) drone is accompanied by electronic sounds. The last nearly 3 minutes are all one note, oscillating somewhat, but feeling like it never stops. On the vinyl, this track ends in a locked groove, so it actually does go forever.
“Asunder, Sweet” (6 minutes) continues with that same note until it is punctuated by echoed guitar notes and buzzing sounds. Around three minutes in, more sounds start rising out of the murky noise. It feels like a beast slowly waking. There’s some pretty feedback as the drone grows louder….
“Piss Crowns Are Trebled” is nearly 14 minutes long. It continues of the growing drones of the previous song but immediately adds a violin.
For this album there is one minor change:
- Thierry Amar – bass guitar, double bass
- David Bryant – electric guitar, Portasound, organ, drones
- Aidan Girt – drums
- Karl Lemieux – 16mm frames artwork, photography
- Efrim Menuck – electric guitar
- Mike Moya – electric guitar,
- Mauro Pezzente – bass guitar
- Sophie Trudeau – violin, drones
- Timothy Herzog drums, drone [replacing Bruce Cawdron]
[READ: April 11, 2016] “Witness”
I really enjoyed this story and the wonderful direction it went at the end (I’ve been worried about The Walrus’ dark stories as of late).
The story is about an older woman (she is over 70), Harriet. Harriet is a painter. She lives alone by the lake, despite her son’s protestations. And as the story opens, we see her attacked by someone in her home.
What was so interesting about the way the story was constructed was that Harriet remained wonderfully calm through the whole ordeal. She remembered to turn her head while the man (who smelled of Juicy Fruit) put his arms around her throat (this prevents you from losing oxygen). She could tell that the boy was one of the local kids who hung out down by the 7-Eleven.
But instead of freaking out, she remains calm through it all. She talks to him in a friendly manner. When he asks for the money, she says it’s in the bedroom. But he forces her down the hall to the room. As they are about to head in, she tells him that there’s a mirror in there. She doesn’t want to see is face or know who he is (such good thinking).
He pauses, thinks this over, then throws her to the floor and proceeds to take her money. (So I didn’t love that part of the story). (more…)
I Just Read About That... 