IN NEVER OUT

Once again, an album that exemplifies post-rock cliché has been produced. Performing the same chord progression (or single notes) over and over again while doing relatively very little with it doesn't require much collective talent, to be frank. If you ask me, a musical phrase repeated ad nauseum is the opposite of the spirit of progressive rock. In Never Out is yet another album from the genre I'd call boringly beautiful.

"Prahanien" Starting with a single, repeated note (somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd's "Echoes"), subtle drumming and other music eases in from underneath. Half of the piece carries on in this fashion until a new chord progression arrives to be repeated, only this time with crashing, sputtering single guitar notes in typical post rock fashion.

"Jura" While also using the same chord progression throughout much of the piece (as well as the abovementioned guitar technique), this introduces a delicate piano to compliment the sound. The guitar frequently bends out of key, which can be irritating.

"Heart to Hearts" Frail guitar calmly opens this gentle piece. It will send the listener to sleep, and then suddenly rouse him with one obnoxious, heavily distorted chord that sounds like it was put there to make him go deaf if he were listening for the first time through headphones and had turned up the volume to hear the subtle, sleepy guitar work in the first three minutes. But if the listener still has his hearing, he will be treated to an upbeat and majestic second half.

"Still Albright" Beginning with light guitar again, this one doesn't pull the dirty trick the last one did. It is, however, sleep-inducing, as there's not much new going on compositionally, just additional layers of instruments and noise applied to the same skeleton.

"Crystalline" Basic, straightforward drumming underlies a guitar playing the same few notes over and over again for three minutes. While the drumming remains, other guitar layers are added, which maintain the repetitive air. Everything ceases midway through, allowing for a short, low guitar interlude. Then it's back to the business of monotony.

"Gomez" Once again making use of pleasant layers of guitars, this final piece has a somewhat cinematic feel- too bad it suffers the same fate as everything else on this album, namely prolonged tedium.