Review Summary: This EP should be regarded as a one of the stronger Post-Rock efforts of the last couple of years, combining emotion with healthy dose power If These Trees Could Talk are one of the best Post-Rock bands I have heard to date.
Listening to a lot of Post-Rock it is very easy to drop most bands into a melodic, chill-out category. Although most Post-Rock bands do have their moments in which you are truly blown away by the amazingly beautiful sounds they create, i am yet to find a band since If These Trees Could Talk that can amaze me throughout an entire EP. The EP can be seen as a singular song broken into tracks and many songs lead into each other and share similar themes. This EP must be listened to as an entire collection otherwise the beauty can be lost with the tracks being mixed.
Combining the eclectic guitar melodies from the bands 3 guitarists gives you 6 songs of pure awe. Each track contains elegantly crafted slow, melodic riffs mixed with epic crescendoes into powerful and emotional sections that leave you completely gobsmacked by their innocence and simplicity. The band also varies its approach to Post-Rock mid song by changing from slow build ups to quick thrusts into faster more powerful riffs. This variance sets If These Trees Could Talk apart from most Post-Rock bands as they usually maintain a singular approach to their build ups.
Malabar Front-8:04
Begins as most Post-Rock does with sampling of sounds, but this is quickly passed into a slow guitar riff. The second and third guitar then join creating a multi-layered texture which is complimented by some light drumming. The guitars stop and the drums kick into a solid beat. The guitars begin to layer themselves again using various effects before tremolo picking into the first build up. Various solo's and guitar melodies follow before returning to the solid drum beat. As the song continues you begin to crave the crescendo. It evokes so much emotion in such a short space it becomes a necessity. This song is a forerunner of the Post-Rock genre and should be treated as such.
Smoke Stacks-6:24
Smoke Stacks ties in with the end of Malabar, as does much of the EP with its previous song, Its a very similar overall sound to the first track but acts as more a continuation rather than a copy. The power of the build ups in this song are greater than that of Malabar Front because they are met with a pause rather than a long build up. This song also features a stronger guitar effort than most tracks on the EP.
The end of the song shows great contrast between riffs going from melodic to heavy over and over before finishing with a slightly heavier Post-Metal feel.
The Friscalating Dusklight-4:32
Begins as a very happy track, positive melodies are met with a deep bass tone. You become immersed in this before a abrupt drop-out and a slow build up from all instruments. You find yourself waiting for this riff to come but the build is very patient, and then it hits only just for a moment then returns to the build up. This pattern repeats for sometime before changing the songs direction completely into a slow chordal progression and then into possibly the most epic riff of the album. The song then slows down ending with the same build up as before into Signal Tree
Signal Tree-5:24
Continues much of what Friscalating began. The song really finds its own around the 1:15 mark when it shows its own kick. The counter-melodies that follow, magnify much of the previous few tracks with returning themes and ideas. After this point the song serves as a long build into its ending which can only be described as violent and, dare i saw, brutal crescendoes. The end of the track has the sees the main riff return and a nice hold to finish.
The Death Of Paragrim-4:06
begins much differently to all other songs with an emotional opening riff that is then joined by guitar runs culminating this sad riff. The song then builds on this riff with distortion and the complexity of the guitars continually growing. This is a demonstration of raw Post-Rock at its finest, the riff builds and builds only getting better as it goes before stopping and the opening guitar riff returns. The song stops with a minute to go and the sampling of sounds returns, readying for the final track.
41°4'23n, -81°31'4w-3:30
This is coordinates to the bands hometown. Akron-Ohio.
The intro of this song prepares you for an amazing song. The guitars play a smooth melody before you are hit with a quick blast of Post-Metal. The drums then play a marching build up and you suspect that the same heavy riff will be heard again but the throw into another melodic riff and you then again begin to crave that riff. The song repeats this pattern into the end of the song before a violent guitar melody is played and you begin to get excited, but it unfortunately never arrives and the EP ends the way it began.
