STRUCTURA TORTURA

Post-Rock is not a genre that attracts me naturally, being from a generation that had to choose between 80's pop or 70's classic rock. I never managed to play Godspeed You Black Emperor's Lift Your Skinny Fists... album from beginning to end without getting distracted or simply annoyed. With Krobak and Krikston, this was less of a problem - maybe because the tracks are shorter, maybe because I was more focussed on getting a review out for the efforts of a valued ProgArchives member. Either way, Post-Rock is not a genre that I will investigate deeply, but this album is certainly worth listening every now and then.

The Krobak part starts of with the atmospheric Amnesia, containing a nice guitars solo with a hint of a bass groove underneath half way through. The violins at the end give it all a folk-like feel. Definitely within the boundaries of what is defined as Post-Rock - eclectic yet not straight forward rock. The second track, The Diary of the Missed One, begins atmospheric as well. The track has a sound track to an 'alternative' movie feel to it: listening closely reveals what could be a number of movements in this 12 minute track, but I haven't taken the effort to count them. The main trigger for listening in this was was the sudden switch to something 'a bit more light' at the 4 minute mark. The final Krobak track, The Fried Bull's Waltz is a different animal (pun intended). It starts with heavy guitars that come back in many shapes throughout the remainder of this piece, that clocks well over 12 minutes again. There is a structure in here, but it's not apparent upon first listen. Challenging for me, maybe less challenging for Post-Rock addicts, but I definitely want to retry discovering it. The ending of the track, which takes us back to more atmospheric grounds provides a nice contrast to the rest of the track.

Then followeth the Krikston part. Art Saves/Kills seems to continue in the dreamy style already introduced by Krobak, but it soon starts mixing atmoshperic pieces with heavier, rock guitar oriented movements - making it one of the two most rocking tracks on the album (together with The Fried Bull's Waltz). Fly in a Glass is one of those titles where I expect to hear sound images of that reflect the title. No such thing here - at least not recognisable to me. Instead, a relaxed atmosphere is created by drums, guitar and maybe some synths or guitar effects. A track that invites to lay down, stare at the ceiling and just listen - even though it gets a bit heavier and noisier toward the end. After a Rain and Come with me on Wires are in the same vein, although the guitar is less prominent on the latter. Apart from Art Saves/Kills Krikston could've done with a bit more variation - then again, these three tracks are only about 5 minutes long, were the other four on the album are well over the 10 minutes long. I must add that Come With Me On Wires is the only track on this album that contains something resembling a human voice - albeit only a sort of heavily sound processed panting.

All in all, my first post-rock experience since my failed attempt at appreciating Godspeed You Black Emperor was far from a disappointment. A great effort by two multi-instrumentalists - even if I don't expect this very limited edition double debut to be an essential piece of any progressive rock collection. Three stars is a valid score here.

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