God Is An Astronaut - Age Of The Fifth Sun
Apocalyptic stuff from the Irish three-piece...
Posted Sunday, 18 July 2010 in ,
Rating: 7
Given that post-rock as a genre is so often described in terms of apocalyptic imagery, it always come as something of a surprise that so few instrumental bands have sought to deal with the subject directly. However, as the somewhat portentous title (not to mention highly questionable cover art) of this, the latest offering from Irish three-piece
God Is An Astronaut, might suggest, ‘Age Of The Fifth Sun’ is directly inspired by the cataclysmic global event predicted in Mesoamerican mythology. Whether the band’s relatively standard mix of gleaming guitar arpeggios and excitable, if basic, programming genuinely evokes such weighty subject matter is, perhaps unsurprisingly, debatable. Certainly, tracks such as ‘In The Distance Fading’ possess an infectious surfeit of energy and the likes of ‘Dark Rift’ and the title track are suitably brooding, but as a whole the album feels oddly restrained. A large part of the problem undoubtedly lies in the production, which is immaculate to the point of fault, but much of the record also feels like a band playing within their (admittedly impressive) comfort zone. Nevertheless, there’s much here to love for fans of the genre and in spite of this writer’s reservations, it’s difficult to deny the qualities
GIAA bring to the post-rock table.
Joe Marshall
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