Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder Sweet And Other Distress 2015 Post Rock 180 LP

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Asunder Sweet And Other Distress


Label: Constellation
Cat#: CST111-1
Format: 180 Grm Vinyl, LP, Album
The release includes a download code card.
Country: Canada
Released: 31 Mar 2015
Genre: Electronic, Rock
Style: Post Rock, Drone

Tracklist

A1 Peasantry or 'Light! Inside of Light! 10:28
A2 Lamb's Breath 9:52

B1 Asunder, Sweet 6:13
B2 Piss Crowns Are Trebled 13:50


Companies etc

Recorded At – Fidelitorium
Recorded At – Hotel2Tango
Recorded At – The Pines
Mixed At – Mixart Studios
Mixed At – Hotel2Tango
Mastered At – Grey Market Mastering

Credits

Bass, Contrabass [Contrebasse] – Thierry Amar
Drums – Aidan Girt
Drums, Drone [Drones] – Tim Herzog
Electric Bass – Mauro Pezzente
Electric Guitar – Efrim Manuel Menuck, Michael Moya
Electric Guitar, Keyboards [Portasound], Organ [Organs], Drone [Drones] – David Bryant
Film Technician [16mm Film Projections] – Karl Lemieux
Mastered By – Dr. Harris Newman
Recorded By, Mixed By – Greg Norman
Technician [Live Sound], Other [Assorted Grains] – SI
Violin [Violins], Drone [Drones] – Sophie Trudeau



Inner sleeve notes :

Oh! How we sallied 'round the roses:
We writ, wrung, and ruined it in Montréal, Québec & Kernersville, North Carolina during all four seasons of 2013 & 2014.
Greg Norman recorded it at the Fidelitorium, at thee mighty Hotel2Tango and at The Pines. Mixed by Greg Norman and God's Pee at Mixart and thee mighty Hotel2Tango. Mastered by Dr. Harris Newman at Greymarket.

Pee'd Emperor : Thierry Amar - bass and contrebasse. David Bryant - Electric gtr., portasound, organs and drones. Aidan Girt - Drums. Timothy Herzog - Drums ans drones. Efrim Manuel Menuck - Electric guitar. Michael Moya - Electric guitar. Mauro Pezzente - Electric bass. Sophie Trudeau - Violins and drones. Karl Lemieux - 16mm film projections. SI - Live sound and assorted grains.

Thanks, as always: Hugsam, Tommy W., Gref, CST MTL.


There was a decade-long span between Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s fourth and fifth studio albums. Fans won’t have to wait nearly as long to hear album No. 6, however. The Canadian post-rock outfit has announced the follow-up to their 2012’s Polaris Prize-winning LP, Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!. Entitled Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress, it’s out March 31st through Constellation Records.

Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress spans four tracks and clocks in at 40 minutes, marking their first single LP-length release since the group’s earliest days in 1997-99. According to Constellation Records, the album is “arguably the most focused and best-sounding recording of the band’s career,” as they worked alongside sound engineer Greg Norman (Electrical Audio) at studios in North Carolina and Montreal.

The Canadian post-rock band took the fan-tagged “Behemoth” around the world starting in 2012, and the piece was later pared down, dragged out and droned over almost 100 times in concert. So when the music blogs refer to all that “road testing” referenced in Asunder’s press release, we’re not talking a little club warmup tour before hitting the studio. In fact, when opening for Nine Inch Nails for their 2013 Tension tour, sometimes “Behemoth” was all GY!BE played. So the LP that became Asunder has been years, miles, continents in the making. When it comes to self-producing a seamless 40 minutes of narrative-free rock, that’s to both the audience’s and the recording’s benefit.

It’s one thing for an instrumental act to wow with a dynamic-heavy piece in a live setting. Paired with Godspeed’s fantastic musicianship and 16mm projections, triggering a satisfactory crowd response at this point can be a matter of picking the right notes and knowing when to burst into a climax. But as a document of where the band is in 2015, Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress is much more than a tune that got wild responses live. And with its runtime, it might be a surprise to some to know it doesn’t resemble an out-of-control free jam. And it isn’t a live translation of the YouTube or bootleg recordings fans had to settle for since 2012. Asunder is an air-tight version of the already nuanced “Behemoth” piece that’s seen enough play to become hyper-focused, but it hasn’t lost its edge in the process.

Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress is hacked up into four parts—1. “Peasantry or ‘Light! Inside of Light’” 2. “Lamb’s Breath,” 3. “Asunder, Sweet” and 4. “Piss Crowns are Trebled.” But don’t be fooled—the most division you’ll sense on the LP is when you pull your needle off Side A’s locked groove. The thing is pretty seamless, and it all starts with the same doomy kick-snare-kick-snare intro that signaled the “new song” for fans on the 2012 tour. Or, “tough shit,” for those who were due for a bathroom break. Asunder’s main voice—a reverb-heavy slide guitar—doesn’t make an entrance until “Lamb’s Breath,” but it’s a gorgeous trip along the way.


Fragile strings, wiry guitars, a wall of drums and bass guide you through Side A, while feedback yanks you back in on the flip side. This side is all building, part by part, up to Asunder’s cathartic finish—and after 40 minutes, it feels anything but a cheap climax. No, by the “Piss Crowns” finale, you’ve earned your feelings.

But the four divisions do signal in different movements: The pretty, melodic intro that rings in a Middle Eastern-style groove defines “Peasantry,” where atmosphere and pure droning make up the second half of Side A. That mood-setting droning makes up some of the next side, but what’s exceptional about the tension built up through “Peasantry” and “Lambs’ Breath” is the release that follows, all over Side B. There’s full-on, back-hunching brutality. Then major chord uplifting melodies. Even some playfulness from the Godspeed players. Asunder is a self-described giant piece, and our investments pay off such deeper rewards by the end of the LP. There’s a reason why GY!BE can go out in front of a crowd and play one song and have that be enough, and that’s because Asunder is Godspeed: the Band condensed into one piece. Their building tension (plenty of that). The lulling drones. The tear-summoning climax.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor - 'Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress' (Full Album, 2015)

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Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Peasantry or ‘Light! Inside of Light!'


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Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Lamb's Breath

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