( )

This album goes together beautifully with the previous one, this release being more organic, dark and sad than the one before which was filled with hope. From the very opening track there are great looming bass sounds and organic piano works making this an instantly recognizable post rock album.

The vocals on here sound better as they are less high pitched and sound a lot more mature. Instead of being filled with hope they give at an impression of sorrow. This is backed up splendidly with the dark basslines and the touching piano running through the opening track. This is one of my favourite pieces by this band as it has so much raw emotion in it. A very moving piece of music.

The lyrics, although sung in a made up language called hopelandic which is a variation of icelandic I can only guess, work really well. It doesn't seem to matter that I can't understand what they are singing, and perhaps it doesn't distract me from the actual music by trying to follow the lyrics because there is no need to. As mentioned earlier the emotion in the vocals, expressed beautifully with the gloomy music, works wonders.

"()" is perhaps a journey of different emotions through a warm range of music. The last track is a standout piece, serving as an incredible climax. This piece favours the guitar over the piano and has a great change in tempo to show frantic, stressed and perhaps angry moods as the guitar piece speeds up. This is a great moment for a great album.

Similarly to Godspeed You Black Emperor!, this music takes patience as it can take a while to build up or progress. This applies with Sigur Ros probably on a lesser degree as none of the tracks reach the epic lengths of Godspeeds work. This album can be compared to "Yanqui UXO" as it sounds a lot more organic and displays darker, more depressing emotions than say "Ágaetis Byrjun" or "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven", which had a positive and uplifting mood to it. This does not detract from "()" as although it is gentle, slow moving and sad music, it is far from dull and boring, maybe somewhere inbetween exciting and boring, but hopefully anyone who listens to this album will be patient. Those who are patient will be rewarded with a great feeling of beauty, stained with sadness. Very emotional, a great album to have.