A SWARM OF THE SUN

'This Will End In Fire' for the liturgical crescendo, the bewitched voice, the progressive momentum that takes time to make us reach the firmament, an appetizer that flirts with Mono, Godspeed You and God is an Astronaut, full of Gods to reach the celestial. 'Heathen' follows, sounds elsewhere taking the time to settle, the rise is slower, solemn, on a fragile piano, Jakob using his vocal timbre like Jón of Sigur Ros as an instrument; it is the catalyst moment for the explosion of pads and post-typed guitars, leading to the musical mystical ether. A new world with the final trombone. 'The Pyre' for the funeral march with airy drums, in the third the guitars start moving on an emphatic, enjoyable, explosive rhythm, all in softness. The air vibrates, saturates, contracts, the pads are cut off for the apocalyptic finale.

'An Empire' for the perfect eponymous title, the solemn crescendic rise with the piano and the voice, recalling Sigur Ros for the calm beach which literally explodes in the second part in a deliberate cacophony. 'The Burning Wall' changes tempo, fast, louder and aggressive, leading with the use of varied instruments, an infernal musical Mr Cadbury making the speakers vibrate. 'Anthem' seven minutes will be the time to hear Jakob; before it was an oppressive atmosphere, a slow post rock derivation where instruments such as musical saw, organ and trombone were put in the spotlight. The title that reminds us that not every band can claim to be prog, that it takes listening time like here. The dreamlike crescendo is Dantesque in its duration and would not have had the same depth if it had been shorter; in short, an elegiac composition allowing us to be on first-name terms with those above.

A Swarm of the Sun offered a devastating symphony, a mixture of beautiful melancholic rises; pipe organ, trombone, synths and a unique sound for dreamlike crescendos cut with embers, excellent in the genre. Originally on Progcensor.

Erik Nilsson's work has always been minimal, from the stuff I absolutely adore from him to the material I'm less sold on, but this is almost a new level of minimal. Existing within the same vocal-infused post-rock framework as previous albums and projects, this takes the piano-led minimalism of The Rifts to new extremes, and results in an album with about a quarter of the musical ideas. Don't get me wrong, the apocalyptic atmosphere is utterly beautiful here, and I'll always appreciate modern post-rock that allows vocal performance to be a part of its sound, but my god this thing is slow. It's almost funeral doom tier, and I'm not sure the songs are good enough to justify it. It's got a fantastic atmosphere and some strong sections, but albums in his back catalogue do that with a bit more substance.

6.3 (3rd listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction