Caspian - Tertia
Rating
RIYL
MonoConstants
Gifts From Enola
Russian Circles
Release Date
08/11/2009
Label
The Mylene SheathTracklist
01. Mie02. La Cerva
03. Ghost of the Garden City
04. Malacoda
05. Epochs in DMaj
06. Of Foam and Wave
07. Concrescence
08. The Raven
09. Vienna
10. Sycamore
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2007 was a fantastic year for post-rock. It saw the return of Explosions in the Sky from a five year sabbatical, and they showcased to us that they're still the mack daddies of the genre and nothing had been lost in their absence. It was also the year Caspian released their long-awaited début, The Four Trees. Unanimously praised by all the zines and post-rock peoples 'in the know', the album is now pretty much regarded as classic of the genre, so the follow-up record has been anxiously awaited by many.
Usually reviews of post-rock will tend to make lazy and clichéd comparisons to EITS, but Caspian draw a closer influence to that of other post-rock behemoths Mono. After a short ambient intro ("Mie"), the album kicks off into a whirlwind of guitars with the already familiar-to-some track "La Cerva" (also featured on their '08 split with Constants). In a similar way to Mono, Caspian build up a powerful multi-layered guitar forcefield that completely envelops and surrounds you. The two follow on tracks “Ghosts of the Garden City” and “Malcacoda” step the album up a gear and are more urgent pieces, utilising aggressive drums and belligerent basslines but still retain those enveloping, power-house guitar forcefields. Tertia isn't all blitz and fury, however, as “Epochs in Dmaj” and “Concrescne” are two lighter ambient tracks that break up the LP, and finally, the record comes to a dramatic climax with the swooping Mono-esque symphony of “Sycamore”, which fades out to some epic and booming tub-thumping.
Caspian haven't reinvented the wheel with Tertia or pioneered anything new, and I'm sure this isn't going to amaze or blow anyone out of the water like their début did, and showing some minor stagnancy the band, in true post-rock fashion, have somewhat played it safe and failed to push that proverbial post-rock boat out of familiar waters with this release, but if it's one thing Caspian should be commended for, it's that they don't meander about like bands such as Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mono, and The Evpatoria Report do. Instead, they get straight to the point. Essentially trimming the edges off Mono's classical and expansive drawn-out sound, the band produce digestible bite-sized pieces of powerful post-rock thunder.
--Rich Taylor
Comments
This album didn't click with me right away like The Four Trees or You Are The Conductor, but I'm sure I'll enjoy it after listening more.
Milwaukee, WI
Good review, hit the nail on the head for me. I'm really enjoying it, but there isn't anything new here. That's OK sometimes... as long as it's good and this is pretty good. This has been a weak year for post-rock so this might end up being on of the stronger releases this year for the genre. The two standout tracks for me are Malacoda and The Raven, both are great.
PA
Miles ahead of the first CD.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Infinitely Inwards
Amazing album.
Ever Forthright - Ever Forthright
Fallujah - The Harvest Wombs
The New Law - The Fifty Year Storm
ERRA - Impulse
Aborted - Global Flatline
Steven Wilson - Grace for Drowning
Crippled Black Phoenix - (Mankind)The Crafty Ape
ARIZONA
I don't see how Four Trees compares with this album. that record was overburdened with useless filler, and felt like random songs thrown together. this album feels like a cohesive whole, where no track seems out of place
Wilmington DE
Moksha is still my favorite song by them but I feel this album is a little more consistent.
Listening to:
Tides of Man
Oceansize
The Contortionist
We are the City
Periphery
PA
Completely agree. Everything on this record sounds like it belongs on this record. It keeps it consistent, and it gives the album that unity that all post rock albums should have. Other genres, whatever, but post rock? Yeah I'd like to have the album sound like the same band wrote all the songs. The Raven is hair raisingly good, and Sycamore is just downright unbelievable around the midway point.
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
San Jose, CA
You can DL the entire album for free at gimmesound.com/caspian. The band gets paid for every download they get.
last.fm/user/thetsaiguy
Minnesota
Decent effort. I got a tad bored in places, though.
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