By: Richard Powley
Album Type: Full Length
Date Released: 17/04/2015
Label: Pelagic Records
Fans of instrumental music, soundtracks and
post-metal will undoubtedly find much to love within ‘Yield to Despair’, but to
describe it as simply another post-metal album would be to do the band a great
disservice. Their fresh and nuanced take on the genre, including noir-jazz and
noise amidst crushing walls of sound is something to truly behold.
‘Yield To Despair’
CD//DD//LP track listing:
1). The Albanian Sleepover - Part one
2). The Albanian Sleepover – Part Two
3). Shaking Off Futility
4). Downbeat
5). Yield To Despair
Tangled Thoughts
of Leaving is:
Ron Pollard | Piano, Synth
BeHn Stacy | Drums, Noise
Andrew McDonald | Guitar
Luke Pollard | Bass, Samples
BeHn Stacy | Drums, Noise
Andrew McDonald | Guitar
Luke Pollard | Bass, Samples
The Review:
Owing as much to
ambient, jazz and noise music as they do to the slow-building and weighty sound
of post metal, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving deliver
atmosphere in spades throughout ‘Yield
to Despair’.
As the first song
reaches its mid-way point, you have been treated to a weighty and slow building
exercise in tension, before the jazzy piano runs that have defined TTOL as something unique amongst the instrumental rock
scene, take centre stage and lead the track to its thrilling conclusion. It’s here that TTOL have
made a vast improvement, the restraint used in the playing allows a much more
crushing tone to envelop the piece, the piano no longer stealing from the
overall sound but engaging with and elevating the drama of the song to a higher
degree than before.
As “The Albanian Sleepover” reaches its second part, a more noir-ish
feel takes over amidst a Dillinger-like yet
entirely more stable flurry of percussion. As the song ebbs and flows,
different lines and instruments come to the forefront before the song reduces
itself to a simple noisescape. A lone piano line reminiscent of Bohren & der Club of Gore accompanies the various
scraping sounds and noise-work, creating an intense and ominous atmosphere. From
here the song becomes a crushing dirge bringing to mind the mountainous sound
of Omega Massif as it approaches in its
thrilling climax.
Employing differing
tactics and skills to create a momentous atmosphere is where TTOL really shine. Not once does any facet of the music
sound out of place, and while different instruments and players do undoubtedly
take centre stage at various points throughout ‘Yield to Despair’, it is never for the sake of virtuosic arrogance
and only serves the mood they are trying to elicit. What feels like the albums centre-piece is ‘Downbeat’ where all of this becomes most complete, with
a breath taking and emotionally taxing example of everything that Tangled Thoughts of Leaving do so well, delivered with
absolute precision throughout its 18 minute runtime. It feels like the albums
most complete “song” and also its most energetic piece, all the
instruments blending together to paint a picture of pure destruction.
Fans of instrumental
music, soundtracks and post-metal will undoubtedly find much to love within ‘Yield to Despair’, but to describe it
as simply another post-metal album would be to do the band a great disservice.
Their fresh and nuanced take on the genre, including noir-jazz and noise amidst
crushing walls of sound is something to truly behold.
‘Yield To Despair’ is available here
FFO: OMEGA
MASSIF, BOHREN & DER CLUB OF GORE, JOHN ZORN, GUAPO, NEUROSIS.
