ALBUM REVIEW: NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD – Godspeed You! Black Emperor
GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR have never been ones for remaining conventional. The Canadian post-rock juggernauts have developed a legendary status through their ambitious compositional style, managing to capture the current political landscape of each release through sweeping, often instrumental movements. Since their last release back in 2021, the world has witnessed the escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict, morphing into an ongoing complete genocide of the Palestinian people, focused on Gaza. It is perhaps expected that GODSPEED would tackle the issue in their own way, but to have done so in such an open manner not only is surprising, but has lead to one of the most impactful bodies of work released in 2024.
With the exception of a handful of spoken word passages, the entirety of NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRARY 2024 , 28,340 DEAD is told through the medium of cinematic instrumental post-rock. Visions of Palestinian society, acts of war, and rebuilding after the bombs have ceased dropping all are conveyed through incredible musicianship that pulls influence from a wide array of genres and cultures. Droning guitars are interwoven with sweeping orchestral passages, whilst alternative rock riffs play alongside moments of folk inspired freedom. All of it feels purposefully executed, not only relaying a narrative, but ensuring that the emotive weight of said narrative is evident and impactful.
Opener SUN IS A HOLE SUN IS VAPORS features reverb soaked guitars that slowly become embalmed in blissful, beautiful orchestral elements. The percussion that refuses to adhere to any real sense of rhythm as it rattles away distantly, lending a sense of peace and freedom divorced from any encroaching genocide. These suggestions of melody and rhythms coalesce on the following BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD, as marching percussion resolves into a bombastic climax that crashes down around the listener with increasing force. Driving yet tender strings sweep over the top of the thunderous percussion as booming guitar riffs explode forwards.
Guest vocalist Michele Fiedler Fuentes lends her voice on RAINDROPS CAST IN LEAD, with her spoken word passages wrapped around moments of tangible alternative rock and grandiose cinematic soundscapes. Any sense of peace that has been permitted to exist, however, is robbed as the album approaches BROKEN SPIRES AT DEAD KAPITAL. Existing more so as a mournful interlude, you can envision the complete destruction of Gaza, and perhaps hear bombs erupting in the distance. GODSPEED need not speak; the way in which the track is orchestrated rips your heart open.
Those allusions to ballistic weapons are brought even more to life on PALE SPECTATOR TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS. Booming, eerie percussion collides with strings that dissipate into discordant echoes. Guitars that drone and screech as if ripping through the air above you. Slowly, the track begins to coalesce, with ominous snaking melodies taking shape, before the track erupts into a haunting, cataclysmic nightmare, marked by walls of tremolo guitars and chiming percussion that rings like alarm bells. As the listener, you are the pale spectator, the comfort of your worldly experience replaced by abject discordant discomfort.
Part of the ethos behind this album, however, is a reminder of hope. As the title suggests, GREY RUBBLE – GREEN SHOOTS almost exists as two distinct movements. What may seem hopeless should still be something worth fighting for; the freedom of the Palestinian people and a right to their own land, even in the face of the utter obliteration of their cities and people, is worth every last ounce of fight and hope one possesses. As the album drifts away on a tender cloud of dreamy guitars and strings, the listener is left to envisage the green shoots of hope peaking through the rubble, shoots which should be nurtured and protected long after the bombs stop falling.
To assign a numerical value on such a project truly feels utterly arbitrary; the sheer importance of such a record is something that demands respect, from the devastating title, to the humane creative ethos that GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR have employed. One shall be assigned, but do not allow a single number to define the experience, expectations, and opinions one has about NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD. In the truest sense, this is a must-listen record; this is not because it constructed of brilliantly catchy hooks, acrobatic vocal performances, or flashy technical proficiency, but because the message it carries is one of vital importance. The genocide of the Palestinian people must come to an end, and hope throughout all of that must be maintained.
Rating: 9/10
NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD is out now via Constellation.
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