GIVE ME BEAUTY... OR GIVE ME DEATH !

This piece is so damn beautiful! Give Me Beauty... Or Give Me Death! is my first encounter with EF and of course a pleasant one. I'm quite new in the Math/Post rock field as I just discovered great genre with bands such as Mono, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Ros. Those bands are amazing and this one too is nothing less. This debut album of EF is simply a bigbang. I enjoy it so much.

For me..Sweden is the greatest prog music factory; band like Anglagard, Moon Safari, and this! I don't know how to convey this sensation. The music is so...so beautiful! Post rock style of guitar, and very cool rhythm section combine with all classical instruments and you get an ultra-romantic, multi-texture, darkly, emotionally build-up and yet simply beautiful piece of music. Unlike some Post rock band, the length of a song so perfect, not too long and not too short. The production, mixing and recording are top notch.

If you love those bands I mentioned above and you enjoy art, you don't wanna miss this one. Not a legendary piece but almost perfect. 4.25 stars. Worth every cent!

For about the last two years or so, I have been thoroughly impressed with the music I have heard coming out of Scandinavia. Norwegians bands Gazpacho and Wobbler immediately spring to mind. So it came as little surprise to me when I found something perhaps equally impressive coming from the eastern half of the Scandinavian Peninsula.

Ef's somewhat banally titled Give Me Beauty... Or Give Me Death has one of those album covers that immediately call you to attention. Thankfully it is more than just a pretty box. GMBOGMD... God that's awful acronym, I digress. Give Me Beauty's delicately surreal doves, are perfectly evocative of the sonic treasures which lie within. It is stunningly powerful and stark album which seems at times, light enough to lift you right off your feet and at other times whose driving walls of sound crash on you like the North Atlantic. The opener Ett is I think perhaps the most singularly beautiful track I have in my entire music collection.

This isn't quite a perfect album mind you. The effete singing, which is thankfully not present throughout, is a bit too meek for my tastes and at odds with the uplifting quality of Give Me Beauty. Some parts, are too plain and others too long winded. None of these factors detract from the allure of its better moments though.

This is a great album for quiet moments of solitude and though I've only heard it during the summer strikes me as an album for winter. It's sparse beauty will feel right at home during a bright day in the chill of Calgary winter. Excellent album, 4 out of 5.

Such a great pleassure to finally got in my hands first Ef album... Many friends told that it was fantastic and I have to agree with them.

From the opener "Ett", a delicate and melodic piece that reminds me some the first works by EITS, the tracks passes through very different atmospheres in some long pieces full of powerful moments leaded by guitar and keyboards but with some fine chamber arrangements that turns every song into a floating delight.

Perhaps it's an album that you'll enjoy from the first minute, there's no way to deny the inffluences of the most melodic post rock bands from 90 and 2000. However, most of the tracks are rich in textures and nostalgic passages mixed with epic sections, such as in the inspirate "Hello Scotland"and "Tomorrow My Friend...", maybe the most original, elegant and powerful pieces of this album.

I insist: it was a great pleasure to have this tracks running through my ears. Recommended for every melodic post rock fan. 3.5* to me...