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Rating: The chants to exorcize the fear of the Darkness, descended during the Apocalypse.
12 tracks ranging from 4 to 11 seconds of annoying whistles introduce the listener to this new work by the Canadian combo. Unsettling whistles that, sunk into the comfort of your own armchair, seem to communicate the discomfort you must physically immerse yourself in to be able to go further in listening. The Apocalypse has occurred and the world is in the grip of the Dark Shadows, and people are terrified, trying to exorcize the fear with collective mantras in memory of what was, channeling their energies in the vain hope that the Light will shine again. "1,000,000 Died To Make This Sound" is all this, a sparse guitar accompanies the voices that repeat the title in an expressionless manner, introducing dry, decisive strings which, on a cold and detached drum, produce a whirlwind that chills your blood while Efrim's preaching voice cries out his sermon. The guitars now live on heart-wrenching dissonances as the tension of the song grows alongside the pulsing of the double bass. Now the vortex of the memory of when everything plunged into the abyss is strong, but it barely quiets, and the grace of female voices now accompanies the dry and piercing Efrim, bringing us back to the safe maternal womb, giving us all the love we need to continue on this cathartic journey towards our probable and imminent future. The 16-minute composition that gives the title to the entire work seems to want to take the greatest "Rock Operas" of the golden age of music (from "SF Sorrow" by Pretty Things and "Tommy" by The Who to "The Wall" by Pink Floyd) and claustrophobize, tribalize them into an ancestral lament, sending them directly into that dark future described in the previous piece, against which the emotional tensions of these sacred monsters pale and reduce to simple and trivial everyday problems. "13 Blues For Thirteen Moons" is a desperate lament, resuming the discourse exactly where Godspeed You! Black Emperor left us orphans. "Black Waters Blowed/Engine Broke Blues" lives off the desperation in Efrim's voice, with the instruments drawing splendid melodic tensions, alternating moments of sublime noise cacophony with furious gallops, only to return "disciplined" to lead the song into desolate territories, where the desperate thoughts of a man left alone to exist in nothingness materialize with every step, moving from echoes of religious chants to heart-wrenching martial screams, interminable moments of apparent calm that become frustrating nervous breakdowns. All with truly sublime instrumental tension. The finale "Blindblindblind" is an incredible exercise of delicate melodies, a bit askew in their progress, soft and tender, that flow into a vigorous and harmonious noise, almost to emphasize how man's blind obstinacy can only bring pain upon himself. "13 Blues For Thirteen Moons" is truly a work of sublime human desolation, perfectly marking the difficult moment we are living in...
...or perhaps this is simply the best progressive music record of the new millennium.
Tracklist
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