SLOW RIOT FOR NEW ZERO KANADA E.P.

"Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada" is indeed, an awesome release from the post rock kings, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and was the first thing I ever heard from them. The music is post rock at its finest.

"Moya" starts off with a single, ominous tone that gradually builds and builds, moving with a slow but perfect pace, before letting up a bit just to start climbing again. The thing to remember, like with any post rock, is atmosphere over musicianship. Not a jab at their talent, it's simply just not the focus. The pace, rises and falls, and overall flow to the ultimate climax is what matters. Damn, it's a hell of a climax. A powerful, emotional explosion that has to be played at max volume. Beautiful, chilling, powerful...it is orchestral, not just that it's full and loud, but lost in the sonic collage 9 people, even more actually, contribute, playing guitars, bass, violin, horn, harpsichord, drums. Every instrument filling it's space in the soundscape.

The same thing can be said for "BBF3" except for this one they've added a recording, of what I'm not sure but it sounds like some guy with a think New York accent being interviewed, going on, (quite passionately) about his hatred for the US government, an outburst he had in court, and the sad state of the country, a "third world, third rate, third class slum" as he put it. Later he talks about his extensive gun collection and recites his poem, which is largely from the song "Virus" from Iron Maiden.

...OK, not really sure what's going on, but it is a powerful, angry, recording always backed up perfectly by the music, spaced by peaks and valleys before soaring again to its final crescendo. At the risk of overusing the word, powerful is the only way to describe it.

One of the strongest moments is when asked what he thinks the country will look like in 2003, the man simply responds with "I havn't even got a mind that inhumane" and when I listen to that in 2011, and think back to how things were in 2003, then follow the state of America since then....it sends shivers down my spine.

Post-rock in it's greatest and most grandiose fashion, this EP should be the textbook definition for the genre. Brilliant piece of music that simply can't have it's length held against it.

Five Stars

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