It’s funny how certain albums can make you visually imagine a place you’ve never been. I’ve wanted to visit the great northwest ever since I saw the first episode of Twin Peaks back in 1989. I’ve always wondered what it’d be like to travel down Washington’s beautiful roads with the smell of the trees just sneaking into the car through the air vents. I live in the Midwest, and there aren’t too many roads or trees like that here. We do have a hell of a basketball team, though…if that even matters. So, here is yet another project from the ever-popular, well-known Canadian repertoire called Hrsta (pronounced "hursh-tah"). How does it stand up to the other depressing/hopeful releases from Canada you ask? Well, it’s somewhere near the top, but not quite at the top. These songs aren’t as epic or intense as Godspeed You Black Emperor!, but they are just as intricate. Long gone are the tape loops and opinionated spoken words so prevalent in the trio of GYBE releases. Most of the tracks from L'éclat du Ciel était Insoutenable are a lot lovelier than anything Molasses, Set Fire To Flames, or Godspeed You Black Emperor! have released. Not to mention, there are a lot of drums on this album. I always thought GYBE needed more drums in their songs…at least more than the last few minutes of each track.
The opener begins in the exact style you would expect from this album. It’s actually one of the only moments where you find yourself truly comparing this to a Godspeed You Black Emperor! album. The second track, “Lime Kiln” is gently lifted to the next step with the subtle vocals of Mike Moya. It also happens to be one of the better songs on the album. I’m not the biggest fan of the vocals on this album, but I’m glad they’re there. “City of Gold” is the next track. This song is the closest to the Twin Peaks reference mentioned in the beginning of this review. If you liked that show, you’ll probably really enjoy this album. I find it at times to be a bit challenging, though. It just seems to fall short here and there of being a truly incredible album. “Jakominiplatz” is a perfect example of this. It’s a short experimental interlude that makes you wonder why it’s even on the album. Does it fit? No. “21-87” is the next track and also the longest on the album. Structurally I would say it’s closest to Godspeed You Black Emperor’s long songs. It starts off slow and builds with the slow hit of drums and Mike Moya’s vocals.
Overall, the pace of this album really tends to drag. There are quite a few great moments scattered here and there, but nothing that will throw you over the edge. I really think it’s time this extremely talented collective of Canadians start looking to other sources for inspiration. What has been done so far is good and original, but I’m afraid they may be kicking a dead horse if their experiments don’t find new paths.
1. http://www.alien8recordings.com/
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