God Is An Astronaut

If you think Maserati's Inventions for the New Season was polished, you ain't heard nothing yet. God Is an Astronaut are pigeonholed as a post-rock band, and they fit the bill -- no vocals, a mostly guitar-based sound, and melodies that float and shift (no proggy shredding here). But this is still a far cry from the trembling ebbs and flows of Explosions in the Sky, to say nothing of Sigur Rós' "Hopelandish" ballads. God Is an Astronaut are an extremely tight unit -- tighter than any other bunch of post-rockers, their precision emphasized by their penchant for synthesizers, which has subsided a bit since their debut but never disappeared, their sound actually reminds you a little of an electronica band performing on guitars. Then there's the fact that God Is an Astronaut don't care much for quiet/loud dynamics that are supposedly at the heart of post-rock -- they can do that, but most of the time they just create an endless and constantly changing melody flow, much like techno bands do. The result brings to mind earlier instrumental new age/rock crossover acts such as Tangerine Dream or Ozric Tentacles, but God Is an Astronaut have none of their unobtrusiveness, offering an emotionally intense record: the melodies at the heart of these tunes are romantic and often darkly sentimental, but they are delivered in a Wall of Sound of loud guitars and sprawling synthesizer textures that do a great job of evoking the vast fiery spaces and restless mood of the cover artwork. The band knows the value of the occasional breather, in one case stretching it to a full five minutes ("Remaining Light"), and never slips into Isis-like brooding brutality, but on the whole, this music is set on moving the listener, not lulling him into gradually sinking to the bottom of his consciousness. The thing is, God Is an Astronaut's songwriting and performing prowess may seem calculating, and designed to push the listener into experiencing the planned emotions in the unceremonious fashion of a radio hit, and this may be a turn-off for some. But it can also be said that God Is an Astronaut are simply too good at what they do. ~ Alexey Eremenko|