 | Tracklist:
01. Benthos
02. Weightless Frame
03. Weightless Thought
04. Trieste
05. Resurface
06. Melted Wings
07. Thawed Horizon
08. Aves
Release Date: 06/09/2009 | |
|
On 5 Lists
|
| Summary: Gifts From Enola's sophomore debut is a complete expansion of their original sound. Unfortunately, the lack of direction in many instances and mixture of this new approach is lost much of the album. |
2 of 2 thought this review was well written
From Fathoms is the follow-up to a relatively successful debut called Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind. While it may not have had the sprawling, overabundant, and sometimes over flamboyant style as a traditional post-rock groups go, their style is quite rare in the genre and is still thought after as a post-rock band first then second. Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind was for the most part, purely guitar driven. Their style could be compared to another relatively odd post-rock group called Grails or even Russian Circles. Yet, with their small existence they carved up a solid record with some interesting results. Showing their musical roots with "Early Morning Ambulance", the unmistakable post-rock influence in "In The Company of Others", while flexing electronic backgrounds in "Miles of White". 3 years after showing some promise, the group have released From Fathoms this year.
Easily throughout the album you notice a key element within most of these songs: they're crafted well enough for you to enjoy, but once you begin to attach yourselves to a brief period of their pandering in their uproarious guitar lifts in their short post-rock extravaganzas you immediately succumb to disappointment with its short time span. While the electronic influences are in full-form and aren't skimmed over as they were in Loyal Eyes Betrayed The Mind it isn't enough to keep the listener interested entirely. Oddly enough vocals are in play, if vaguely you consider them a part of the song. Almost Isis-like in nature, but entirely toned down, From Fathoms plays around with low, muddled, and mostly unrecognizable lyrics, while the previous album strayed from all of this. There are a rare exceptions to this rule: a quick assault of post-rock sweetness is ferocious and beautiful in the short span of 4 minutes in "Weightless Frame" and completely switches up halfway through with acoustic strings, harmonized vocals that can only be determined to be something-like "Come" being hymned, even imploring to use the harmonica for some brief periods in its later half. That may be the best example to see how far they're trying to reach here, yet they still encompass some of those elements throughout the album in short spans, it just doesn't work as it should. The lone perfections within this album is by far "Resurface" and "Thawed Horizon", which successfully melds all of what was meant to be on this album, gradually pushing forward with high-paced eruption of post-rock and passionate vocals.
Those relatively new sounds components are what signals Gifts From Enola's newest album is really about. Their previously minimalistic influences are brought to the forefront along for the ride with their post-rock glory. This may sound all well and good, but there's one trying problem. Unfortunately it doesn't always work, from the electronic transitions, post-rock traditional appearances of strings, and yes the power cord sort as well. Much like Russian Circles' debut Enter impressed, their follow-up Station wasn't anything progressive and only mildly interesting. Gifts From Enola suffers the same fate, not with its non-progressive thought process, but their problems to establish a single unity within its structure from all its directionless deliberation. "Weightless Thought" sounds like a rendition of "Weightless Frame", only the opposite with an dreary and calm electronic transition. Understandably they're linked, but the song adds nothing to the process and is only time wasted. From Fathoms sees a band trying to reach too far, with too much in their hands. It's fantastic that they're trying to expand their sound with a different approaches, if not for a few inspired moments within most of these songs this would feel entirely mediocre and as a result From Fathoms can't help, but feel cluttered.
|
| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
I wasn't feeling these guys too much either. Good review.
Digging: Boredoms - Vision Creation Newsun
| | | Album Rating: 3
Wish it was better, but what the hell why did they pull all this shit in there. It feels segmented and uneven, they're are those two songs I mention in the review that are gold, but other then that the others are mediocre.
Digging: PJ Harvey - Dry | | |
Good review. I like the band name, but the music seems like it wouldn't be too interesting.
Digging: The Shizit - The Shizit
| | | Album Rating: 3
if the gift they're giving is a big ol nap then they live up to their name lololol
Digging: Animal Collective - Fall Be Kind | | |
had quite high hopes for this band, but this is just so blah
Digging: Hammock - Raising Your Voice... Trying to Stop an Echo
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
I might have enjoyed this album if I hadn't listened to If These Trees Could Talk before and realised they're exactly the same but slightly worse. Vocals don't really help out too much. 'Trieste' is still pretty awesome though.
| | | Album Rating: 3
So did I Minus =(
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Found that this is streaming on lastfm, watching Fargo then putting this on.
Digging: Stars Of The Lid - And Their Refinement Of The Decline | | | Album Rating: 3.5
Over half way through and it was pretty boring until Resurfacing. That acoustic with the children laughing in the back is pure gold.
The screaming in the background at some points throughout are really really sweet.
| | |
|
Stumble
Digg
Twitter
Del.icio.us