Explosions In The Sky - All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone Album Review

Explosions in the Sky,
All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone,
Album Review

It’s easy to see why post-rock divides people... Though the genre can display beautiful, epic & moving characteristics, it can also be severely monotonous, devoid of lyrical content and very difficult to distinguish one act from another. I guess you could say it’s a fair argument if you sit on either side of the fence. Personally, I think that I began believing post-rock was great, though I quickly realised that originality was almost non-existent in this field. The Texas based Explosions In The Sky are one of the major players in the post-rock genre and having previously cast their material aside, I would be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t overly excited at the thought of reviewing their latest album.

Firstly (and much to my surprise), the cohesive relationship between the two-part lead guitar lines is immediately fascinating. Complimenting each other perfectly, they sound like they have been delivered simultaneously by the same pair of hands (never mind two members of the same band), and even when the song structures veer off in unexpected directions the unified relationship between the rich pallet of sounds still burns brightly.

From the dramatic opening song ‘The Birth And Death Of The Day’ to album closer “So Long, Lonesome” Explosions In The Sky propel the listener through a range of emotions, from orgasmic highs, to chilling depths, and with that comes an air of predictability (after all, don’t most post-rock songs display these cinematic tendencies?).

For a genre that is often labelled monotonous & unoriginal, Explosions In The Sky might have done a better job of putting the ‘post-rock doubters’ to rest, but if you give this level of musicianship the attention that it craves, then like me, you might just start to believe again.

Colin Burrill