Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off
Over a year ago, when I arrived on Sputnikmusic, I was eager to recieve recommendations. When people saw that I was a fan of progressive music, they recommended Circle Takes the Square's "As the Roots Undo", because they thought that this 'progressive screamo' was a good Sputnik album to start with. Well, I heard one song, hated it, listened again a month later to three songs, and lowered my rating of 2.5 then, to a measley 1.5. Now, a year later, I return to Circle Takes the Square's masterpiece, and I struggle so see what I thought was lacking. First off, to describe the vibe of the album, it's pretty much like "Alaska"-esque Between the Buried and Me raped screamo band Orchid, and throw in a post-rock-esque emotion. "As the Roots Undo" is absolutely mesmerizing all the way through, from the brilliant 'humming' intro, an intro that's melody is repeated in the closer "A Crater to Cough In" in the form of a guitar instead of a hum, to the beautifully executed and aggressive epic "Kill the Switch", to the ambient build-up intros that are sprinkled throughout, to the shattering 2 minutes of "Crowquill". "As the Roots Undo" is the most artistic and beautifully executed emo album ever musically, but what about the lyrics? The deep symbolism that lies within the bounds of this tour de force is astounding. I can't even begin to explain how I began to analyze the words, but when I did, it showed me that the aggression or lack of aggression in each track was dependant upon the lyrical content, a difficult task for any band to pull off. The album is slick, engaging, long, drawn out, diverse, well-mixed (for an emo album) and captivating. "As the Roots Undo" is the best screamo album of all time, no emo band will ever top it, and if Circle Takes the Square ever returns, I believe that they might struggle to capture the beauty that this record emits through every listen. A wonderful experience.
|
