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Customer Reviews
so lets do it like this:
who cares if efrim cannot sing? i have heard quite a few people saying that they dont like his voice, and he cant sing...but, somehow isnt that the point? this isnt an album of mixing desk wizardry and pro-tools dehumanisation. this is a living breathing album...all the way through lonesome strings give way to a huge vocal waterfall...all the band singing in all the right[wrong?] places, and certinly not perfectly. and this is horses in the sky's strong point...it isnt perfect...vocals are not opera quality and the lyrics are not the greatest, but who cares...the music feels warm and loved and honest.... it doesnt matter.
once again, the band are exceptionally tight and have once more seemed to progress from their last release... the last proper album [this is our punk rock..] felt slightly like an experiment, this one feels like they know what they are doing. and it has given the whole so-called post rock scene something new to shout about. each song feels like it has been sung by a group of bored sensless yet ultimatly hopeful people...sitting in a forest or just singing because they can...almost in a cultish way[!] the songs range in style from the vocal only 'horses in the sky', to the immense and intense live favorite 'teddy roosevelts guns'. and as an album, it works wonderfully...the louder parts come when they are needed and are not just obligatory. the quiet parts and the silences come at the right time, and for the right length...it just simply feels right. though the one thing which i think is just slightly cheesy is the campfire sounds at the beginning and end of 'hang on to each other', and i feel that that the song itself is probably the worst on the album as it doesnt quite work as well as it does live...not to say its a bad song mind...
and i guess thats my only fault with an otherwise perfectly imperfect album... somehow something has been lost from the live experience, maybe its just the fact that i have seen them a few times live...but it somehow feels a little..i dont know, cold? maybe thats the wrong word, but it doesnt matter, from speaking to members of the band last december...i got the idea that they were immensly pleased with what they had created...and for that this whole review doesnt matter
just make sure you get the double vinyl version...
Efrim's voice is imperfect, it's true, but this creates an atmosphere and keeps the music from feeling polished to point of boredom. Most importantly, he manages to get emotion through in his voice, making the songs in my opinion much better.
The Songs:
God Bless Our Dead Marines: Wow. This song makes the album worth the money on its own. The final 4 minutes are heartbreakingly beautiful.
As close to 10 as possible/10
Mountains Made of Steam: A subtle build over desperate vocals followed by a great 'solo'.
8/10
Horses in the Sky: Simple yet effective. However this makes it slightly boring on repeated listens.
7/10
Teddy Roosevelt's Guns: Depressing (in a good way) with a powerful and harsh ending.
8/10
Hang on to each other: Good use of a choir, but suffers a bit from Efrim's pretentiousness (the sound effects at the beginning annoy).
8/10
Ring them Bells (Freedom has Come and Gone): Very very good. The beginning is especially good.
9/10
The vocals are crying with weakness and at times pleading with sadness, with a far more organic production than the previous two records (this organic production seemed to become the way-to-go, as side by side 'Collapse Tranditionals' and 'Horses in the Sky' are uniquely similar).
This gives the album a tonne of vintage charm, and a really classic tone.
I was disappointed that I loved this album instantly, (sounds strange that doesn't it) as I sometimes like to be so challenged that I'm not sure what I make of a CD, as I'm more intrigued to return to it and ultimately I build a better relationship with the music that way. HOWEVER. I started off loving this, and it's just getting better and better on each listen. I'm excited now. My feelings for Thee Silver Mount Zion Memorial Orchestra music is just getting more and more personal.
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