IN A COLD EMBRACE

I don't rate or write reviews about albums on this site, unless i feel really compelled to. Therefore, most of my ratings are 5 stars. That doesn't mean I think every album i hear is genius; It means that the albums i take the time to write about have been the soundtrack to my life at some point. This album has moved me enough to the point where I wanted to write about it, and posting it on facebook wasn't enough.

So basically there's this completely unknown band from Belgium (what's with Belgium these days? There seem to be so many promising musicians coming from there like Quantum Fantay, Gotye, Aranis, Battlestations, to name a few, not to mention the singer for my band Ocean Architecture is from Brussels) called Battlestations who create a surreal, unconventional post rock landscape in A Cold Embrace. Forget the guitar driven Explosions in the Sky-like American style of post rock that is flooding the interwebs (which I am guilty of emulating with Until Sunrise) because this style of "post rock" integrates the best moments of GY!BE, older Porcupine Tree, Tangerine Dream, darker, slower moments of Anglagard, and Maudlin of the Well's folk moments. It's a new, ideal electronic/folk/ambient construction of post rock.

Here are some things that Battlestations does right, that a lot of bands in the same genre do wrong/some points that make A Cold Embrace a masterpiece:

1. The build-ups, when they exist are tasteful, without dragging on. 2. There is a wide range of instruments used, and the delay pedal isn't always on. 3. The song structure flows beautifully without being predictable. 4. The emotions are not stagnant, a.k.a. there are moments on the album that range from beautifully uplifting to drudgingly dark. 5. The use of synth isn't pathetic or cheesy. 6. The album gives the ear a break every once in a while, and without dragging out the quiet moments at the same time. 7. There is very little cliche here, and when there is (like spoken word) it's still done really well. 8. This is one of the most innovative albums i've heard this year

This should be enough to get you, as the reader, interested, so I wont spoil any information about the individual tracks. I will say, however that tracks 1,2, and 4 are my favorites if I was forced to pick. PLEASE check out A Cold Embrace by Battlestations on BANDCAMP if you haven't already. It won't appeal to everyone, but those music enthusiasts out there with an open mind will very likely find it to be one of those rare hidden gems that makes them oh so excited.

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