RECORDING A TAPE THE COLOUR OF THE LIGHT

Bell Orchestre is a new band from Canada that plays your not so average band from the genre. They play a different type of post-rock using classical instruments more than the usual rock instrumentations bands normally have. You won't find any guitars here. Instead you'll get horns (!) a violin player and a drummer. It's a very interesting line-up, but is it good? Let's see what this chamber (post) rock band has to offer.

The album starts softly without making much noise. The first and second song on the album are soft and calming with the brass instrumentations playing softly with the other instruments backing them up. By the middle of Les Lumieres Pt. 1 you'll notice the epic feel of the album. Les Lumieres Pt. 2 starts out with a bang and it doesn't let you go until the very end with the brass instruments taking the lead while the violin, drums and lap steel guitar (the only one you'll find in the whole album) set nice and energetic melody for the song. Their sounds is rather happy and innocent maybe that's why there are sometimes when the band sounds like a marching band, but you could only wish that the ones you hear at your university or school were as good as this.

One of the good thing about this band is that, apart from having a strange line-up, they are also unconventional with their style of post-rock as well. They avoid almost all of the clichés of the genre so you can rest assured that you'll be having a breath of fresh air with this one. Most of the songs of this album tend to vary from soft and delicate beautiful songs to very energetic ones. It also has a nice balance of both soft and hard songs so it feels perfect on that matter. Again, I have to emphasize on the epic feel of the album since it's part of makes this album so great. There are songs like The Upwards March that one feels lifted by their full and orchestrated sound. They'll make you think there's really an orchestra behind their sound and their only a four piece band. This may sound like a GY!BE description, but rest assured they sound nothing like them. The softer songs on the album also carry that same feel, but in a more calming way like in the song Nuevo which is a beautiful song that brings images of places that can only be reached by ones imagination. Beautiful landscapes that often look like the art cover.

If you're looking for something to break out of the ordinary and still be accessible and melodic then give this band a try. It isn't limited to fans of the genre either. People that enjoy other genres and don't particularly like post-rock won't have any problem getting into them. Warm, optimistic, energetic and epic. Go and get it!