Wrekmeister Harmonies has long been on of the most exciting projects in heavy music. I know that they are far outside of the realm of many folk's musical taste, but for me there never has been and never will be another band quite like them. Their ability to invoke dark pastures and weird soundscapes is stunning. They speak to twisted realities and unheard-of wastes. And of course now they have most of Godspeed You! Black Emperor helping them put together a record. As weird as it might sound, one of the biggest post-music groups on earth has come to the aid of this small and relatively unknown project in order to create some of the most potent art to ever come from the band. Wrekmeister Harmonies has been pushed to their limits with Light Falls a record that ebbs and flows its way into a stormy and beautiful climax, capturing the imagination and hinting at still more to come.
I think there is something to be said for the tasteful sense of forward motion that the band has been able to capture on Light Falls. The way that you find yourself part of a machine, one that scrambles gently forward and eases ever so slightly back, always a slave to crushing progressions and gentle, thunderous bass lines. The music of Light Falls is wonderfully natural feeling. You journey across the wastes with these experimental metal truants and find yourself diving into bleak new waters time and time again. What Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Wrekmeister Harmonies have done here is taken the listener on a unique voyage, a journey of the sort that many thought impossible. It makes for a rather unique experience and one that you will want to take again and again. There is no one who quite sounds like this band, and for good reason: their music is much further "out there" than I think most people are comfortable going. They have pushed the boundaries of what music can be such that they are more architects of sound than they are musicians.
What I love about Wrekmeister Harmonies is their ability to invoke antediluvian sounds. Yes, this record is dense as they come and that's going to alienate a lot of potential fans, but that's always been a part of their thing. This is not music for the faint of heart. There's a lot to digest here too… the tracks are multi-layered and seem never ending at times. Furthermore, Light Falls, for better or for worse is by no means the new Godspeed You! Black Emperor record, though traces do remain throughout. This isn't an album for the casual fan but it is one that you can fall in love with if you've been appropriately primed. That's how it goes with Wrekmeister Harmonies, though, and if they had attempted otherwise I'd feel a little bit weird. It's an album that if you take the time to digest will make for a singly rewarding experience. It's just a matter of cracking open that bleak and barren shell.
Score: 8/10
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