Review Summary: Post-rock for romantics who are not afraid to admit it
This is music for the broken ones and the tender hearted. Grace Cathedral Park are a post-rock outfit that focus on the more romantic side of the genre. As their name suggests, their style is actually a very graceful one. Unlike their peers the typical post-rock base structure is inapparent, in fact they choose to adapt a more gloomy style.
Gloomy is exactly what their product sounds like, slow and some lengthy tracks that leave you with a numbing effect. GCP uses acoustic elements as well as the traditional post-rock equipment which they steer to create a pseudo crescendo that keeps their cart on the rails and gives the impression that the songs speed up. They handle this fairly well, I could imagine myself coming back with the car on a rainy day with this playing while I drive faster and faster to the point where I abruptly would be awakened by horn signals.
The guitars often howl which adds to the dramatic, the folk elements (yes, acoustic guitars in post-rock) create the romantic touch.
This type of song structure isn’t quite easy digestible, with which I mean it can take a while to fully appreciate the layering and build-up of the music. Although those familiar with the genre will instantly notice that this isn’t your average post-rock band.
From the above, one could discard that ‘In The Evenings of Regret’ is an album that requires your full attention. Not really, it serves both as an attentive listen or as background music. It would take quite the apathetic person (and even I enjoy it fully) to not be immersed in the understated sound that has such a distinct effect on its listeners.
I would like to try and draw comparisons to other bands, but I can’t really think of anything else that sounds really similar. If you’d insist I’d say to try vision a more subdued Yndi Halda while Mark Kozelek brings his guitar to the crew.
If you’re a fan of post-rock , slowcore, neo-classical or any other form of dramatic music without a hint of tackiness, then be sure to look into these guys. They really are a treat.
