post rock / post metal
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When this album came in a few days ago, I was immediately interested. For some reason I am always eager to discover new post rock bands. I think I never expected the genre to be so widespread. Before I started this website, I didn't think that there were so many post rock bands, certainly not at this almost constant level of high quality. But somehow they surprise me time and time again, which of course is a good thing.
Valerinne hail from Bucharest, Romania. They formed in 2012 in order to explore the organic flow of instrumental rock music. Several releases and a number of gigs followed, including Dunk! Festival in 2013. Now, they are back with a brand new album, 'Monumenta', consisting of five, well, monumental pieces of post rock, beautifully alternating between gentle, emotional passages and crushing metal riffs.
Much like their fellow countrymen Environments, Valerinne mainly focus on atmosphere, dynamics and an organic flow. These guys, however, like to explore the harsher, heavier side of the genre by coming up with layers of distorted guitars. In that aspect, there is as much place for shoegaze as there is for post rock. At times, especially in the track 'Palinopsia', they seem to nudge towards Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine or A Place To Bury Strangers.
Some of these heavy outbursts seem to go on forever, immersing the listener in a gloomy state of trance. Yet, even these elaborate passages seem to alter and evolve, pretty much constantly. New soundscapes move in and out of the foundation, created by these energetic drums and hypnotic bass guitar. Is that good? Oh hell yes it is, certainly when you play this album at a high volume level.
The calmer passages also aren't as gentle and soothing as you would expect. There is something haunting about them, something impending even. A dark energy seem to come forth from these pieces, equally immersive as the heavy ones. The amalgamation of both is simply perfect, well, for a great post rock album it is. And yes, this is a great post rock album. Personally, I can't wait to witness this stuff live.
Serge
Valerinne hail from Bucharest, Romania. They formed in 2012 in order to explore the organic flow of instrumental rock music. Several releases and a number of gigs followed, including Dunk! Festival in 2013. Now, they are back with a brand new album, 'Monumenta', consisting of five, well, monumental pieces of post rock, beautifully alternating between gentle, emotional passages and crushing metal riffs.
Much like their fellow countrymen Environments, Valerinne mainly focus on atmosphere, dynamics and an organic flow. These guys, however, like to explore the harsher, heavier side of the genre by coming up with layers of distorted guitars. In that aspect, there is as much place for shoegaze as there is for post rock. At times, especially in the track 'Palinopsia', they seem to nudge towards Slowdive, My Bloody Valentine or A Place To Bury Strangers.
Some of these heavy outbursts seem to go on forever, immersing the listener in a gloomy state of trance. Yet, even these elaborate passages seem to alter and evolve, pretty much constantly. New soundscapes move in and out of the foundation, created by these energetic drums and hypnotic bass guitar. Is that good? Oh hell yes it is, certainly when you play this album at a high volume level.
The calmer passages also aren't as gentle and soothing as you would expect. There is something haunting about them, something impending even. A dark energy seem to come forth from these pieces, equally immersive as the heavy ones. The amalgamation of both is simply perfect, well, for a great post rock album it is. And yes, this is a great post rock album. Personally, I can't wait to witness this stuff live.
Serge
