Ever since forming 16 years ago, Irish quartet God Is An Astronaut has reigned as one of the premier post-rock groups. With its fusion of intense rock instrumentation, ethereal and emotional soundscapes, awe-inspiring dynamics, and transfixing melodies, it's easy to hear why the band is constantly ranked alongside fellow genre champions like Sigur Rós, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Mogwai. Each of their prior releases has offered a breathtaking sonic journey, and their ninth emotive opus, Epitaph, is a record that both sees a progression in their sound while still remaining true to their ethos that helped define the band. The opening title track 'Epitaph' sets the album`s mood. There is pain and loss at work here, but not pain and loss that are given in to. Sparse piano motifs face energetic rhythms, shimmering guitar coatings, and eruptions of dense fury breathe life into a journey of melancholic longing: there is the release experienced when a troubled existence ends in 'Mortal coil' followed by the sombre foreshadowing that is 'Winter dusk'.
M**H
Beautiful
I really like A Moment of Stillness and All is Violent... The band live are fantastic also. This is quite different, but I love it. The pace is very different and the whole album is driven by the subject matter so very sorrowful and beautiful. Still dynamic heavy and soft, still God is an Astronaut but evolved. I cried. The whole is magnificent but I love the title track, Seance Room, Komorebi and Oisin in particular.
P**R
Incredible!
This is a stunning album , their best imo , mixing beautiful ambient space with bursts of shoegaze guitar violence , this is a dark dark but beautiful album that grows with every listen , essential!
I**K
Different and more of the same
I’ve been into GIAA ever since I heard All is Violent, All is Bright. That is still my favourite album by them and everything since is pretty much recycling. They have a very distinctive sound which I suppose is a good thing but it’s also a bad thing as they seem to be treading over familiar ground with every release.Don’t get me wrong, they are very good at what they do and have done some brilliant work but their albums as a whole can be a bit hit and miss. Epitaph is no exception but at least on their 9th album they are experimenting a bit more with their sound.Post-rock (or whatever you wish to define them as) is full of bands all sounding similar, and as I previously said GIAA had a distinctive sound but they’ve clearly tried to experiment which has resulted in them sounding like many of the other bands out there who do it much better. Like Russian Circles as an example. Middle of the road for me. It’s not bad.
N**G
Exceptional album
Saw these guys in Glasgow and they played pretty much this album and from previous, very enjoyable, all their albums have a familiar feel, this is their sound. I can't wait to get the vinyl, pop it on my deck and hearken it's spine tingling auditory splendor.
D**C
The worst mixing in history of music
If I could give 0 stars I would. this album is a complete fiasco! the mixing and mastering of this album are so bad and poor quality. The quality of the songs is disappointing, everything sounds compressed and muffled. Nothing to do with the previous GAA albums, I wouldn't recommend buying this album! terrible!
Trustpilot
5 days ago
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