Godspeed You! Black Emperor - G_d’s Pee AT STATE’s END!
Constellation Records
The post-er boys of post-rock are back to update 2021 with their latest serving of under the weather reflections for modern times. This is their seventh studio album and, dare I say it, their best in nearly a decade.
G_d's Pee AT STATE'S END! Is GY!BE doing what GY!BE does. It's by the book, by their standards, but it's still as good as it ever was. No other band can produce a build up of tension and release of said tension like these guys. They always manage to make it fresh and exist within the modern space. As apocalyptic as ever, GY!BE always fit the times - maybe because times don't change. They have been at the precipice of post-rock for 20+ years at this stage and that's not changing any time soon. They understand the post-rock formula and have perfected it to a point where it seems to have peaked in its ability to progress - it has apexed, hit a point where it can't be improved upon. This doesn't make it any less satisfying to indulge in however.
Like the majority of GY!BE albums there are memorable moments in abundance. Moments that you look forward to because no other group of musicians can bring to life the pure undoing of a monumental sonic trip. They build and build to the point where they breakthrough in a blissful, cathartic manner. In a similar way to clouds dispersing after a long bout of dreary weather. These cathartic moments are like the strongest beams of sunlight imaginable tearing through the most treacherous of storms. 'First of the Last Glacier's' is jaw-droppingly beautiful and one of these 'moments'. The distorted screech from the guitars, animalistic in nature, sound like the most sorrowful cry for help imaginable. It's what I imagine Mother Earth to sound like during/after a crisis of nature. Everything in its path endowed by what you would call absolute terror, but more likely to be confused admiration.
This is their best work since 2012's 'Allelujah! Don't Bend Ascend'. A fine return to form if there ever was one.
Favourite Moment: First of the Last Glaciers, Cliffs Gaze
