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Stumbling woozily into the sunlight come Montreal’s Thee Silver Mt. Zion (Memorial Orchestra, for this outing), clutching a battered shoebox to their collective chest, the contents of which – yellowing papers, faded photographs, odd buttons and brightly-coloured bottlecaps – make up this, their sixth full-length in some ten years.
Despite being shorn of their Tra-La-La Band and having undergone their umpteenth or so line-up change, the weft and warp of the band’s sound in nevertheless reassuringly intact. This is another tippy-toe step forward in a strange journey that’s seen them steadily chart a course beyond the ubiquitous post-rock tag to take in orchestral pomp and clattering psych-outs as they forge some sort of hairy, woebegone chamber music for an indie set raised on Dirty Three and The Black Heart Procession. Or, at least, one that’s been secretly harbouring hopes for a twisted carnie cousin to Arcade Fire’s happy-clappy viola stomp.
Comprising four modest six-minute pieces and a slender interlude bookended by two more expansive 15-minute workouts, Kollaps Tradixionales effectively runs the SMZ gamut to date, hinging upon de facto leader Efrim Menuck’s strangulated vocals and febrile guitar whilst all around him whinnying strings soar and surge, drums pound like a vast cetacean heartbeat and strange, elemental noises are wrung from the rafters. The atmosphere is rarely anything less than electric as the band is led like a drunken, rag-clad choir through hymnal chants and crooked round-robins.
Unassuming opener There Is a Light eases you in with gentle hands, Menuck’s quavering vocals and shaky guitar line lighting a lamp for lush, doleful strings to follow so that by the time the clangour has risen to a roar you’re barely aware of its pressing weight and couldn’t quite say from whence it arose. Elsewhere, I Built Myself a Metal Bird, with its insistent Neu! pulse, rousing brass and climactic strings, could perhaps be the band’s most straight-laced effort yet, while ‘Piphany Rambler stretches and sprawls around itself, heaving, swaying and swooning before blowing itself – and the album – out in a mournful wash of white noise and pure sonic abandon. --Alex Deller
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
It seems like all the music I've ever loved since the sixties has been distilled and channelled into SMZ. Like all their albums, this needs a few plays to get comfortable with, and like all their albums you'll be rewarded for persevering.
It's their first with printed lyrics, here's a sample:
GREAT FURROWS IN THE PAVEMENT WHERE OUR HOOVES STROVE TO LEAP - SQUARE MEN IN THE COURTYARD, ENGINES IDLING.
No idea what it means but it's damn fine stuff.
No hesitation in giving this 5 stars, even if I don't think it will quite grow to the stature of 'Horses in the Sky' (which undoubtedly deserves 6 stars).
It's their first with printed lyrics, here's a sample:
GREAT FURROWS IN THE PAVEMENT WHERE OUR HOOVES STROVE TO LEAP - SQUARE MEN IN THE COURTYARD, ENGINES IDLING.
No idea what it means but it's damn fine stuff.
No hesitation in giving this 5 stars, even if I don't think it will quite grow to the stature of 'Horses in the Sky' (which undoubtedly deserves 6 stars).
9 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
"Kollaps Tradixionales" is the sixth album from Silver Mt Zion, and it's definitely a move - sideways at least - from their last full player, 2005's 13 Blues For Thirteen Moons. The band is slightly different since last time - they've become a 5 piece, but on the most part this seems to have concentrated their output slightly more which is no bad thing. As a longtime devotee of Godspeed You! Black Emperor, I've followed Silver Mt Zion's releases with interest, although I found 13 Blues to be overblown and uninspiring. I approached Kollaps with caution, but was pleasantly surprised to find a much more coherent and exciting record than I anticipated.
The stand out tracks here are the opening 3; "There Is A Light" starts off on a gentle arc which hits a typical uplifting crescendo around the 9 minute mark. "I Built Myself A Metal Bird" is Mt Zion sounding like an all-out rock band, and adds some nice variation to their catalogue, and "I Fed My Metal Bird The Wings Of Other Metal Birds" is *almost* pure Godspeed in sound. The rest of the record is good, but not as great as these three tracks - Kollaps Tradicional (Bury 3 Dynamos) comes close though.
It's not a record without its negatives however; Efrim Menuck's vocals have always been a point of issue for many people, and although they don't grate quite as much as on the last record, it's hard to describe them in any particularly positive way. Of course, there are moments where the cracked and nasal delivery work in relation to the music, but more often than not they become an annoying distraction. This is obviously personal preference, but I'm always wondering just how great this band could be with a different vocalist and a slightly different take on production.
The other problem is that it is impossible for me to listen to a Silver Mt Zion record without making some comparison to the late, great Godspeed. Sure - I know they are different bands, and their ethos has changed, and they should be judged seperately. But I still can't do it - when I love Silver Mt Zion, I'm acutely aware it's at the point when they are most like Godspeed; don't get me wrong, this is as good as I've heard Mt Zion, but any record they make will always be overshadowed by the premature exit of GY!BE.
A good record; compromised, flawed, but still a good record.
The stand out tracks here are the opening 3; "There Is A Light" starts off on a gentle arc which hits a typical uplifting crescendo around the 9 minute mark. "I Built Myself A Metal Bird" is Mt Zion sounding like an all-out rock band, and adds some nice variation to their catalogue, and "I Fed My Metal Bird The Wings Of Other Metal Birds" is *almost* pure Godspeed in sound. The rest of the record is good, but not as great as these three tracks - Kollaps Tradicional (Bury 3 Dynamos) comes close though.
It's not a record without its negatives however; Efrim Menuck's vocals have always been a point of issue for many people, and although they don't grate quite as much as on the last record, it's hard to describe them in any particularly positive way. Of course, there are moments where the cracked and nasal delivery work in relation to the music, but more often than not they become an annoying distraction. This is obviously personal preference, but I'm always wondering just how great this band could be with a different vocalist and a slightly different take on production.
The other problem is that it is impossible for me to listen to a Silver Mt Zion record without making some comparison to the late, great Godspeed. Sure - I know they are different bands, and their ethos has changed, and they should be judged seperately. But I still can't do it - when I love Silver Mt Zion, I'm acutely aware it's at the point when they are most like Godspeed; don't get me wrong, this is as good as I've heard Mt Zion, but any record they make will always be overshadowed by the premature exit of GY!BE.
A good record; compromised, flawed, but still a good record.
Format:Audio CD
There is a quality to the music of Silver Mt Zion and their older brother Godspeed You! Black Emperor that I have never experienced anywhere else - not even from the many other 'post-rock' outfits who produced music in a similar vein. I remember the first time I heard Godspeed - everything else just got blown away. Now, most music just falls short in comparison.
For many years Efrim Menuck et al have produced some of the most engaging, interesting and challenging music around and while Kollaps Tradixionales may not be their best ever, it is up there and they certainly continue to hit the mark.
There seems to be a split in opinion on the vocals on Silver Mt Zion records. I personally think they work perfectly. He's never going to win any awards for techincal vocal competence, but to me this just adds to the sense that at times the music is just on the brink of control - and that is what makes it so exciting.
For many years Efrim Menuck et al have produced some of the most engaging, interesting and challenging music around and while Kollaps Tradixionales may not be their best ever, it is up there and they certainly continue to hit the mark.
There seems to be a split in opinion on the vocals on Silver Mt Zion records. I personally think they work perfectly. He's never going to win any awards for techincal vocal competence, but to me this just adds to the sense that at times the music is just on the brink of control - and that is what makes it so exciting.
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