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Last Active 12-20-21 9:49 am
Joined 06-25-14
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| Favorite buildups
The best building/release tension moments I can think of. Not a definitive list, just my personal favorites. What tracks would you choose? | | 1 |  | Holy Fawn
Death Spells
Arrows
I was listening to Death Spells the other day and this track basically gave me the idea to do this list. After the doom onslaught of the opener, the sound of the album beautifuly shifts to mellow guitar strumming and peaceful snare rims. You know another storm is coming, but the band keeps you on the edge. I absolutely love the sudden outburst after the first chorus that is followed by yet another calm verse. The song is driven forward through the second chorus (that little distortion added is delicious), tension builds until there is a sudden cut to a silent synth tone before a final drop to a massive doomy riff. When the final section with screams and feedback and all hits, it is more than earned. This formula is nothing new but it’s done beautifully and sound-wise it’s one of the greatest. Seer would classify too, but I think that the band is at its absolute peak in Arrows. | | 2 |  | Oceansize
Frames
Trail of Fire
This is my first association when it comes to this topic. First three songs off Frames are incomparable and the trio culminates with Trail of Fire. The track has this strange drive that pushes it forward, builds and builds, every new part rises the tension and the ending elevates it to almost unbearable heigths. It’s in the always-in-motion drumming, irregular rhythm (that doesn’t break you out of the song but instead serves the linear buildup perfectly), beautiful imaginative chord progressions, overall composition of various instruments complementing each other – everything contributes into one massive outcome. It’s even more impressive in the live setting in that youtube video. I’m devastated I’ll never see them live. Standout – of course the only little pause that comes at 4:30 and everything that comes after. UNSUNG - UNTIED - UNALIVE | | 3 |  | Cult of Luna
A Dawn to Fear
Inland Rain
I could do this list only using CoL discography (actually, haven’t I done this list already?) – tracks like Echoes, Waiting for You, Crossing Over, In Awe Of, Lights on the Hill, Dim (!!), everything could be here. Instead, I chose one of the least flashy cuts – Inland Rain is shorter than most of these, but has some compositional aspects which I think demonstrate the band’s strength at its best. The final chord progression is nothing new, but the way it creeps into the song after the ambient intro like a foreshadowing and then leaves space for classic CoL riffage – that’s spectacular. Also the riffs are constantly evolving and I love how the it falls a little bit before the end (5:30) – no slowing down, just some notes and hits missing. Then the second iteration of the aforementioned chords comes exactly in the right moment. Yeah, goated band. | | 4 |  | ISIS
Panopticon
Syndic Calls
I have almost none „stereotypical post-rock buildups“ here but when it comes to this territory, nobody did it better than Isis in Syndic Calls. It’s almost basic – simple guitar chord progression, tasty drum groove, other instruments gradually joining, everything has its place in the slowly building sound that leads to a massive conclusion. Maybe it’s the clean vocals at the end that elevate it to the first spot in my mind. This is how it’s done. | | 5 |  | Norma Jean
O' God, the Aftermath
Disconnecktie: The Faithful Vampire
Somewhat similar approach as Syndic Calls, although NJ operate in a much different genre field. It’s like a breath of fresh air in an uncompromising album of noisy riffage and filthy breakdowns – suddenly, everything makes space to a simple guitar riff, another tasty drum groove and pretty emotional clean singing melodies. When it erupts at the end, the theme is the same but at full volume this time, and the final slowing down to a devastating breakdown riff pushes the song to its well-deserved cult status. | | 6 |  | Rishloo
Living as Ghosts with Buildings as Teeth
Dark Charade
In the context of Rishloo discography, this is the closest they came to building a true prog rock epic with massive runtime and distinct sections. For me, it works perfectly. The themes accelerate from a moody intro through some slow riffage and glorious ascendant chord progression to bass/drum grooves and finally to a section that earned the song’s placement on this list – that shift to 7/4 and an explosive closing part. | | 7 |  | Hum
Inlet
The Summoning
I added this track to subvert the formula a little bit – the buildup is this time from slow soul-crushing massive guitars to a beautiful calm final part of the song, which works so good exactly due to the 6 minutes of groovy riffage before it. Desert Rambler would be also an obvious addition to this list. Yeah, Inlet goes really hard. | | 8 |  | Julia Holter
Aviary
Words I Heard
Another song which feels like it’s just pushing and pushing forward the whole time – I was always so intrigued by the chords, beautiful harmonies and morphing string section, it all sounded so mysterious and ever-changing to me. I was then very surprised when I tried to learn this song on piano and I found out there are just like two somewhat simple chord progressions that repeat for several times during the song. The simple means how the effect of the song is achieved are pure genius. That little calming down / fake ending before the final piano bass hits at the end – this thing touches my soul. | | 9 |  | Anna von Hausswolff
Dead Magic
Ugly and Vengeful
I thought about putting some Swans here but I couldn’t come up with a song to choose – apart from Helpless Child or The Sound, their stuff operates on different levels of sonic attack and I feel like I can’t speak about buildups in a literal sense. So instead, I’m going for a somewhat similar Anna Von Hausswolff masterpiece – 16 minutes of building tension, massive organs, tribal drumming, witchcraft vocals and a brutal ending. When seeing Substance in cinema last summer, it was a very nice surprise to hear some familiar disharmonic melodies during the bloody theatre scene. | | 10 |  | Have a Nice Life
Deathconsciousness
Hunter
It was this or Earthmover – Hunter won because of the moment the closing groove hits. For the entire first half, you feel that some kind of noise eruption is coming and the band delays it for so long, until it drops – rhythmically it doesn’t make sense, it’s just a random moment in the middle of the beat. Love it. Also the disintegration of the climax at the end is spectacular. | | 11 |  | Kayo Dot
Choirs of the Eye
The Manifold Curiosity
Probably the most original and avantgarde buildup on this list – the best section on Choirs of the Eye album starts yet again from a simple guitar strumming, but uses much more disharmonic and unpleasant means that feel like slowly falling into an abyss. The climax is not some clear post-whatever riffage but acceleration to a total death metal madness. | | 12 |  | A Bunny's Caravan
Draining Puddles, Retrieving Treasures
Radio: P.C.
Another 15-minutes track – the band uses ambient sections, post-rock progressions and GY!BE-esque talking samples (yeah I didn’t put any GY!BE song here – which should make the cut? I’d probably go for something from Lift Your Fists) to create tension for several absolutely epic climaxes that close this beautiful record – the falsettos around 11-minute mark are pure bliss. | | 13 |  | Supersilent
13
13.9
Closing this list with a genre shift – no words can fully describe the massive impact this jazz/noise improvisational piece has on me. The intensity of it is almost unbearable. I wanna live inside the fuzz euphoria of the last 7 minutes. | |
dedex
03.27.25 | chauncey buildups lmfao
also yeah cult of luna
and Earthmover is goat | JohnnyoftheWell
03.27.25 | Hunter > Earthmover is a based choice, much more interesting as a build
Trial of Fire is a shoe-in and Syndic Calls is a cool underrepped ISIS pick nice nice
Would be interesting to see a version of this list that intersperses the lumbering epics with succinct builds from non-post genres | Dedes
03.27.25 | Man honestly
I'm a frothing SLUT for buildups and crescendos but somewhere in the jumbled ever revolving top 5 is def Blue Against the White by Panopticon. For a non-post adjacent one tho uhhhh Misery by Gallows. Idk if any breakdown feels so goddamn earned as that absolute nut crusher in the end. | tectactoe
03.27.25 | The entirety of Consume Red (Ground Zero). | smaugman
03.27.25 | trail of fire is beast choice | FurtherDown
03.27.25 | @johnny yeah that's true, the only entries from my list that would classify are probably 8 and 13
@dedes and @tectactoe - will check these suggestions, I haven't heard about Ground Zero and it looks like my vibe exactly.. I also forgot to add some Boris, Feedbacker would could get a spot too | brickhed
03.27.25 | My favorite of this type of music is The Spectacular Commodity from The Ascension from Glenn Branca
The entire song is excellent with how it does buildup and payoff. I haven't heard a song do it as effectively as this. It even used to be my favorite song for a long time. | FurtherDown
03.28.25 | Yeah so Consume Red is brutal, thanks for the rec. It's pretty much like that Supersilent track in the list which is my favorite piece of noise/jazz ever.
Gonna revisit The Ascension for sure! It's a long time since I heard it. |
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