Review Summary: "Within chaos there is logic..."
The music induces a truly ominous atmosphere, one cultivated by cryptic melodies that dance around aberrancy and obscure dimensions.
This Is Such A Quiet Town experiments with many different musical styles, each song seems to follow its own personal agenda, yet with only one similar goal in mind- erraticism.
"Cygnus X-1" begins our descent into this lurid musical spectrum. It opens with a gentle acoustic guitar arrangement, but yet there is this dark ambience that lies beneath the music, a loathsome sentiment that calmly waits for its moment to erupt. The vocal deliveries then arise, depicting horrid lyrical imagery to match the dark countenance of the instrumental sections. But from this gentle acoustic sound, and almost without warning, the music ruptures in aggression decorated with distorted guitar effects. And as we become accustomed to this new and heavier soundscape, the music diverts into an ambient setting of electronic effects, eventually regressing back to an aggressive rock sound in its climax.
In its erratic orchestral structure,
"Cygnus X-1" foreshadows our entire journey within this album. Constantly transcending through genres, and experimenting with whatever sounds the musicians please. As the listener, we never really know where Peace Burial At Sea is going to take us next.
"Samizdat", for example, is embellished with aggressive intensity. The vocals deliveries even incorporate growling and screaming, adding a higher level of animosity to the music. But contrastingly, there are also songs like
"Knuckledropper" and
"Goblin Pornography", which favor a more mellow soundscape. The music blends both electronic effects along with typical rock instrumentation to create a trancing atmospheric environment. The denouement,
"Necronomicon", is a reflection of the many different musical styles that Peace Burial At Sea explored throughout the album.
"Necronomicon" has a very abstract orchestration, with the music flowing along at its own will, fluctuating from a gentle ambience to bombarding us with droning guitars drenched in harmonic dissonance.
"Eye Heart Logic" is perhaps the highlight of this album. It opens with a repetitive bassline that carries us through a barrage of flourishing psychedelic synthesizers. The guitars then coalesce with the rhythmic framework of the bassline, leading the instruments into an eruptive chorus.
"Eye Heart Logic" has a very infectious, yet chaotic melody, making it one of the most exhilarating moments of the album. This Is Such A Quiet Town is certainly a very impressive debut from one of England's most promising underground acts. Peace Burial At Sea have formulated a dynamic Post-rock sound that transcends outside of the stylistic criteria of the genre, while incorporating various other musical influences to create a truly menacing sound.
