Review Summary: Beautiful 2nd album by Alabama's Glories.
Hazy summer afternoons, the gentle breeze brushing through the window, the gentle "chirps" of birds, and that feeling you get when the moment you are in, is the only moment in time that will ever matter.
The soundtrack to those moments for me last year was "Put the beast out of mind" the 2nd album by Birmingham, Alabama post rockers Glories. In a genre that seem's to have it's fair share of dross, and mediocre acts, Glories somehow manage to forge their own path in post rock with dreamy soundscapes, and while not altogether different to other well known bands, the feeling of it being strangly familiar, but strinkly different is part of it's appeal.
The opening track "crowns" is one of those songs that instantly grabs you, and it sets the tone for whats to come, with it's gentle guitar melody, which eases into it's progression, at a steady speed, before reaching it's ultimate climatic conculsion. Everything about this song just seems to hit the right spot. The drumming, while powerful is not overwhelming, the melodies of the guitars playfully bouncing off eachother, like light hitting a prism. It's everything an opening track should be. It playfully grabs your attention, and playfuly invites you into the album.
You are then treated to a further eight pieces of music. Some more heavier then the one before, but each track has it's own unique beauty laced throughout. "Of good fortunes" only lets you settle into it for a moment, before going full throtle and treating you to a wall of textured beauty. The following tracks, "Just be remembered", "An Unquiet Mind", "An Unquiet Mind" and "We Will All Go Together" are a more somber affair, and really settles you into the journey that has been created, with a more relaxed feel.
If you aren't a lover of the post rock genre, it's easy to feel like all the songs blend into eachother. But for me thats part of the appeal. Each song although different, has a nice feel of simularity to it. "Sonoma", "Not Everything, Not Yet" and "I Can't Stay Forever" are all vital to the overall feel of the album. "I Can't Stay Forever" being another highlight.
We then reach the finale, "lands" does the job well enough, and while not the strongest track on the album, it does leave you feeling satisfied with the journey you have undertook. I think the overall impression you get from "Put the Beast Out of Mind" is that it should be taken as a single piece of music, rather then individual slices. The way each tracks blends into another, the tempo changes, the feeling changes, it's everything you want from a post rock album. It's powerful, but beautful, it's epic, but modest too.
Overall it's a wonderfull album well worth devoting your time to, again and again, as every journey you take will differ.
