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While the world is longing for Godspeed You Black Emperor!'s next release, they themselves decided to focus on different things. Well, more or less "different", because on these two albums things aren't getting far away from their Godspeed destination. The artists formerly known as just A Silver Mt. Zion decided to expand their line-up and name, and this had some obvious consequences for the music. Their first one was a chillingly plaintive monument of pure melancholy, sounding as desolate as a human being could imagine. That album was recorded as a trio, consisting of Efrim, Thierry, and Sophie from Godspeed. Live, they brought along three other people (a.o. Ian from Re:), making the sound a bit more rich and loud. For this album, those new people are in the normal Mt. Zion line-up, thus it's no suprise that the new album sounds richer and louder. Is this a good thing? Not necessarily. The real force from Mt. Zion was that extreme melancholy, that tearjerking plaintiveness. On 'Born into Trouble as the Sparks Fly Upward' the tone is somewhat angrier, as if rage has taken the place of mourning. This is best shown in 'Take These Hands and Throw Them in the River', the album's centerpiece: The distorted guitar plays the same chord over and over, creating a loud drone, while the violins lay some angry melody over this foundation. The wild and paranoid vocals make this song complete. While it's definitely not bad, it isn't as overwhelming or impressive as their melancholic stuff. The same, to some lesser extent, goes for 'C'mon Come On (Loose an Endless Longing)' which has a guitar riff Tony Iommi would be jealous of. Closing song 'The Triumph of our Tired Eyes' reaches almost pop and slowcore territory with those more conventional structures and melodies, and again those vocals. These vocals have gotten a much bigger role in the music, but Efrim isn't exactly a born singer: While they sound good enough in the silent whispering parts, they're just much too fragile and off-key in the louder parts. Listening to this album makes it all the more clear that they'd better have stayed more introvert and sober, because the first three songs and especially 'Could've Moved Mountains' are among the very best and beautiful ever in the extended Godspeed history. These are songs where guitars, violins, and pianos are made for each other, and together they reach incredible heights. Or should I say lows, because the tone is as least as plaintive as on the first. In terms of melody, names like contemporary composers Gorecki and Arvo Pärt come to mind. If the whole album was more like this, this could easily have been the album of the year. Now it's just one of the best.
http://www.kindamuzik.net/recensie/a-silver-mt-zion/born-into-trouble-as-the-sparks-fly-upward/1060/
Meer A Silver MT Zion op KindaMuzik: http://www.kindamuzik.net/artiest/a-silver-mt-zion
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