THE EARTH IS NOT A COLD DEAD PLACE

Post rock is definitely a genre of music I have been quite familiar with ever since I started getting really into music. One day I was listening to Jamiroquai and Prince, and then bam, I was listening to some very heavy tracks that sounded like they came from a nightmare. It was honestly weird and crazy to me then but now, I really dig it. Some interesting stuff to be found with these albums, and the fan recognition is well deserved. Even when it is fairly niche, it adds and inspires so much to the modern music scene. One of the more popular acts that came from the post rock scene has to be Explosions In The Sky. Founded in Texas in 1999, they have a pretty strong following and a strong reputation. I have heard about this group for a bit of a while now, and I have been sorta interested in checking them out for a while, so I decided to check out one of their more popular releases, The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place. After hearing it, I can say that it's pretty alright, I'll explain when talking about the songs.

The first song is First Breath After Coma. It starts off with a little guitar chord being plucked that evolves into a bass riff, then a more cohesive guitar riff with drums, and more and more the song just seems to evolve with more textures and ambience, giving the track a dream-like feel to it all, and as the song progresses it keeps up with it's own tempo without the direct need for changing things all too much, just subtle changes to get the ball rolling. I really like this track as a starter, it allows you to introduce yourself to the sound of this band without the need of beating you over the head with it. However I feel like this track lacks a level of emotion. It's definitely pretty, but what I love about post rock is that it can bring out the emotions of anyone, whether anger, sadness, confusion, fear, etc and etc. This doesn't do it for me, and I feel like if they added a bit more, maybe some field recordings and samples from stuff then maybe it'd give me those feels I am craving for, but right now as it stands, it's not that good at the job.

The next song is The Only Moment We Were Alone. It's a bit quieter and a bit more spacey than the last track, which I actually think adds a bit more charm unlike the last track, and it definitely makes me feel something a little more. I feel a bit cold when listening to this track, it's not creepy but it does somehow give me a bit of the chills with how the guitar plays and those great drums. They add more and more to the song as it goes on, taking some breaks in between to spice things up. This is a major improvement already, and it has already become one of my favorite tracks on the album.

Moving along we have Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean. It continues the same torch the last track pulled but it has its own charm, like how the guitars now sound like they are weeping, and how near the end it sounds like it is building up more and more to some climax that sadly, doesn't come to fruition. It just sorta ends, and I think it dampers the song majorly. It builds up to what could've been a great finisher for this song, but it never comes out, and it kinda makes me a little peeved. I wanted something, really anything. A big crescendo, a wall of noise, a guitar being shredded, literally anything would make this song so much better, but as it stands, it just kinda feels weak without what could've been at the end, so the journey would be so much more worthwhile.

After that, we got Memorial, and I really like this song. It starts off quiet and desolate but over time it gets more intense and bigger, heck it even gets a bit heavy with guitars that sound like something you'd hear on a heavy metal album. I honestly love how this song flows. It's so satisfying hearing the song switch from something so soft and delicate to something intense and awesome. It adds so much to this album that I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised when I first heard this song. The more I hear it the more I see the potential this band holds with their music, and I think this is one of their best songs to date with all of that reasoning alone.

And now the last track, Your Hand In Mine. This is very much like the first track as a matter of fact. A dream like feel with some great guitar work and drumming that gives the song it's own ambience that makes things all worthwhile in the end, however it still has the problem where it lack any really major emotions out of me, plus it just sorta ends without anything really big and grand, much like Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean, making the whole experience kinda half assed in my eyes. It's still a fine song, but it could've had so much potential to really make it the best it could've been.

So I like this album, but I am also very mixed at these songs. Sometimes they are great but other times, they feel like they lack the full potential this band can bring. As it stands, this is a fine album, but one I wouldn't listen to constantly. It's there, it's been done, it has some cool songs and sounds, but that's more or less all I have to say for this album.