This Will Destroy You
Young Mountain

Every genre has its paradigms. In post-rock, bands like Mogwai or Explosions In The Sky have set the standard: a simple melody often repeated ad nauseam is gradually buried under progressions of distortions and the like, which, however, do not nullify the melody itself but amplify it in a play of emotional crescendos.

Obviously, there are those who stand out in an original way. But that's not the case with This Will Destroy You. However, unlike a myriad of bands that simply imitate this prefabricated model, these Texan guys have the merit of being able to fill their compositions with emotion. They play with passion, and it shows: the melancholic initial echoes of "Quiet" are a heart-stopping dive that becomes heart-wrenching when the guitars turn into an amalgam of sounds that are both abrasive yet captivating. The same approach is found in the following "The World Is Our" and "I Believe In Your Victory", which evoke much more noticeably the sounds of Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell The Truth Shall Live Forever and The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place (from their fellow countrymen). Different in style, more subdued, "Grandfather Clock", with a hint of timid electronics, inserts itself among the instrumental sounds. The album concludes with two pieces ("Happiness: We're In This Together" and "There Are Some Remedies Worse Than The Disease") in which a violin is added to increase the emotional tension. In the latter, it accompanies and contrasts with the guitars in prolonged phrasing that stretches and frays in a constant build-up of tension that finally culminates in a definitive liberating explosion.

In short, the six tracks on Young Mountain are truly worthy of a listen. However, when the album ends and gives way to silence, there is a bit of a bittersweet feeling for an album that while listening to it, one has the impression that at any moment it will take off, but instead, it remains here struggling, searching for that something extra that would allow it not to be just one of many works in the sea of instrumental post-rock. At least, that's my personal impression. Nonetheless, the guys are young, and they have plenty of time to bounce back. For now, let's enjoy this not bad work.