05 November 2012 (gig)
07 November 2012
The inscrutable, elusive and obscure yet legendary godfathers of modern post-rock returned after a ten year hiatus with their album 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!' earlier this year.
The first track off the album is twenty minutes long. That is the kind of band we're talking about here. They invite you to audial stories, letting your mind wander, rise and crash at their whim. Blending drone, melody and abstract noise, the fondly named GY!BE are a common gateway to the post-rock genre and all the many sub-genres that have sprung up beneath it.
Their dark vaguely-politicised soundscapes and visual looped projections reverberated throughout the HMV forum on a bitterly cold night, but as the audiences body heat compensated and rose the temperature, so did the four tracks off their latest album bloom into something akin to a ray of light.
Endless drone segued into melodic violin led elegies and after what felt like two hours it seemed as if they had only played one song. Maybe their entire discography is just one song constantly shifting throughout the years and dependant on the mood of the many musicians that make up this collective.
I hope we don't have to wait another ten years.
