Blueneck - The Fallen Host

Resolutely bleak in mood, this is music primed for the winter months...

Rating: 8Although you’d be hard-pressed to identify anything hugely original in Blueneck’s particular brand of sweeping post-rock, it would be equally difficult to deny the quality of ‘The Fallen Host’. Certainly, very few bands have come as close to approximating the atmosphere created by the sadly departed Godspeed. Resolutely bleak in mood, this is music primed for the winter months, all serpentine guitar lines, funereal percussion and tastefully desolate vocals. So while it’s possible to quibble with the production – a number of the crescendos would benefit from greater impact – this is a stunningly assured record, and one well worthy of further investigation.

For fans of: Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Rós, The Ascent Of Everest

Joe Marshall