SINES

Jakob is a post-rock band hailing from the far-away kiwi land, having their new album "Sines" out in 2015, after quite a hiatus. And no, I would not be surprised, if I found out that these guys were doing nothing during their break but building the new album. Because boy, Sines really is nothing short of perfection.

First of all, post rock is a tricky genre. You do have to be in the mood to take it in, especially if it's Jakob's soaringly dark music being on display. Sines will not break this circle either, given that at places it is even more downtempo than its predecessors. And that is a compliment for Sines. Because as heavy and as great the opening track ("Blind them with science") sounds, bringing back the power of "Controle" (especially when the heavy riffs and the solid drum work kick in), that is how much the new, laid-back style fits the band also. Even though we are not talking about a long album (7 songs rambling through 44 minutes), it is safe to stay that thanks to the band's brave effort to experiment in new directions, the album is much more varied and diverse than their previous ones. And yet, each piece of this puzzle manages to fall into the right place on Sines.

Besides the kick-ass opening track there is one more "loud" song to mention ("Magna carta"), whilst all the others would mark the band's expansion in this new, laid-back direction. Standing out of those, "Emergent" comes with some surprisingly mature and beautiful melodies, whilst my personal favourite, "Darkness", might be one of the best the band has ever written, thanks to its minimalist, yet beautifully ambient sounds, with the drummer taking the back seat (and still adding so much to it). If you close your eyes during this song, there is no place it will not take you to. Not a happy song overall... so after that, it is no surprise that the band goes for a bit more optimistic-sounding song to close it all with, which is the title-track "Sines". And make no mistake; again, it might be the best ending of a cd the band has ever gone for. Listening to the song I ask myself the question though, how these guys manage to sell five-minute-long songs so much built up around nothing but one basic sound, shifting the band closer to drone music even at times. The title track delivers a solid answer, as it starts from zero, building up this one sound from scratch in the most downtempo way ever, gathering more courage to expand further with each minute, whilst still repeating the same melody... and really not doing much else. Yet, it works, which goes for the whole cd too: Sines is Jakob's most mature album to date, with their ideas all fleshed out, let it be the usual, loud, (almost) post-metal sound of them that any fan might expect, or the new, dreamy musical journey they embark upon here, which suits them just as fine, too. Having said this, it is no surprise that they manage to stand out again from the sea of mediocre contemporary bands, which is not easy in the genre. So, until they return to hopefully build on these strengths on their next album too, I give them two thumbs up for such a multi-layered, mature and beautiful comeback.