Strange post title, I know, but that's the name of the album and indeed the name of the band. When I want to sit back and contemplate, I put this record on. Godspeed You! Black Emperor is a post-rock group from Canada, which still feel as revolutionary today as they did back in 1997, despite conforming to the genre in every way. Long songs, minimal vocals and songs split into acts? Sure. They've managed to remain true to the definition of the genre, while creating beauty and desolate soundscapes within their music, a feat matched by very few. Have you ever wondered what the apocalypse would sound like? Would it be like walking through your old house, cold and alone, remembering the good times and choking back the tears? Friends begging for food on the street? A rumbling storm gathering on the broken, smoking skyline? Is it a howling dog screaming into the silent night? Would you accept it and wander into the flames, admiring it's spectacular beauty and embracing death? Would you deny the undeniable? This band have encompassed all of these nightmares, to create an epic, sincere soundtrack. A soundtrack that throbs and thunders and beholds. A soundtrack, to the end of the world...
The track number on this record weighs in at three. Don't however, be tempted to consider this a quick album to listen through. The longest act, for indeed that's what they are, runs for a considerable twenty-nine minutes. That's right, half an hour, but in my mind, half an hour of bliss. The first section of the record is entitled 'The Dead Flag Blues' and is definitely the most desolate of the three. It stands, surrounded by death and racking coughs. The drone that pulls itself along in the dirt only highlights the noiseless atmosphere. Crackling flames, scuffling animals. The wind blows. Imagine a desert. Then take that feeling and lay it down upon a city, void of life and lacking joy. A stern and sincere monologue comes in, backed by beautiful instrumentation and relating the thoughts of a broken man, in a manner both poetic and provoking. These are the last visions of a man once thought strong, weakened by the haunting loneliness that hugs his heart. Trains chugging away lead into somber wails. Crying children weeping over the skinny bodies of their parents. At the end of all this misery though, guitars emulate a realisation. A realisation that this is all we have left, that we have to enjoy the last remnants of millions of wonderful years. Tinkling bells mark the end, and I'm emotionally drained. Consuming curiosity however, prevents you from stopping. You have to listen on.
'East Hastings' contrasts fantastically with the end of 'The Dead Flag Blues'. A furiously desperate preacher builds the noise to fever pitch, before falling in defeat to the inevitable, impending fate. This slows to a quieter guitar, lacking in hope and leading the desolate march to the hill from where earth's final moments will be privy to your teary, bloodshot eyes. The march is long, the tension building with the speed of the track. Painfully, you run to the crest, the sight hitting you like the shockwave from some immense explosion. The land below you is ripped, torn and crushing. It burns with a light reflected from the blood-red sun. Clouds flee and car alarms die. Horror, epitomised.
The last track, 'Providence' is the longest, but as such required more of your attention than the previous two. The silence is haunting. After the time spent listening to the groaning, thoughtful sounds, silence on this track is eerie and in a way required, in order for you to take in the epic, beautiful soundscapes that were sprawled across the vast wastelands and deserted cities. I was and still am blown away by the sheer story-telling and atmosphere this record manages to create. This is in itself the best post-rock album out there. A tantalising and gripping glimpse into a future hurt and lost and burning at the hands of a saddened God. After listening, you take for granted simple pleasures, biding your time for the moment when you can delve back into this epitaph of despair, an epitome littered in the glorifying hopes of men and the forever prevailing will of mankind...
