HORSES IN THE SKY

I've always thought of ZIONs as GY!BE's offshot, nothing more. Hence I found their debut rather enjoyable (it sounded like LYSFLATH b-sides if there could have been ones!), but the farther I go the least satisfying material I heard. Blank and annoying apocalyptic preaching with some good music on the backs. Seriously, I'd rather make a compilation from ZIONs' 2001-2004 albums, because they had less than an hour of great material from those years. When I heard of 2005' release called 'Horses in the Sky', I've checked ratings and thought like uh, even worse. I'm glad to say I've been self-fooled! A friend of mine shared this CD with me saying that it's their best and for him ZIONs' mission was to create exactly this one album. One hour later since I've heard (for the first time) opening bass notes and crooked Efrim's voice I was completely agree, that 'Horses...' is indeed their best.

The album is divided into two sides, each having a 3-part epic ('God Bless...' and 'Ring them Bells'), an acoustic (eponymous one and 'Hang on to each other') and a track that has both features ('Mountains...' and '...Guns'). Mirroring each other, both sides sound absolutely stunning, and while I was a bit cold towards acoustics at first, now I love them sincerely. 'God Bless Our Dead Marines' has wonderful mid-part with one of the strongest lyrics I ever heard from Efrim, and breath-taking closing sing-along coda (''when the world is sick...''). 'Mountains made of Steam' is my second fave, with heart- breaking back-voices and stunning climax. Closing 'Ring them Bells (Freedom has come and gone)' also features some mindblowing moments (mid-climax and coda especially). The band has immensely matured in songwriting and arranging, each song and movement sound fresh and carry the special mood of the record, the melancholy that you can FEEL or even TOUCH by yourself. This is simply awesome.

Few words about Efrim's singing. Yes, it's out-of-tune, unprofessional and more like weeping. On the other side, can you imagine ANY OTHER KIND OF VOCALS HERE? James La Brie? Peter Hammil? Tarja Turunen? C'mon, it's perfect for ZIONs, and dare I say 'Horses...' is simply the best album in Post- Rock-with-vocals imaginary sub-genre, and one of the best in whole Post-Rock for sure. Highly recommended!!!