Today’s Sounds: Godspeed You! Black Emperor
The new Godspeed You! Black Emperor record — and first in 10 years — is exactly what you hoped and thought a new Godspeed record might sound like. It took a summer of discontent in the streets to get the Montreal troupe off their collective duffs, but really, who better to supply the soundtrack to our decaying burgh than our very own harbingers of all things dire?
As a whole, Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend! is their most direct piece of work yet. What it lacks in dusty samples and atmospherics, it makes up for in crunchy guitars, intense riffs and highly effective interplay between said guitars and haunting strings. The record nicely condenses the group’s best qualities onto one 12-inch and one seven-inch.
