Parhelia - Oceans Apart
Rating
RIYL
MogwaiRed Sparowes
Pelican
Disappearer
Tool
Tracklist
1. Lights in the Distance2. Hindsight
3. Oceans Apart
4. Summer Fades
5. Storm Warning
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Off the top of my head I can only think of three bands that hail from Ireland: shoegazing legends My Bloody Valentine; post-rock fan favorites God is an Astronaut; and the Africa curing U2. Upon that lengthy list, I can now add Parhelia, who undoubtedly carries along the progressive spirit (yes at some point in their career, U2 was actually not half bad) of its native predecessors.
Like God is an Astronaut, Parhelia’s main field of interest is the instrumental post-rock genre, however approaching it from a much different direction. Their latest EP Oceans Apart is not much of a departure from last year’s debut, First Light, and still remains within the confines of metal-tinged post-rock. The best way to describe Parhelia’s music is to say that it is safe. There is nothing particularly distinguishing or overtly ambitious about Oceans Apart. It’s simply another guitar driven instrumental album that takes cues from its predecessors without ever blatantly sounding like any one particular band. Songs come and go on Oceans Apart, in through one ear and out through the other without ever really making a mark or distinguishing themselves from the tracks before or the ones following. The tracks on Oceans Apart aren’t necessarily formulaic, however, and more often than not Parhelia actually avoids the loud/soft dynamic or the desire to have epic buildups in ever song. The downfall of this though is that the tracks rarely seem to go anywhere – they just float around until they end.
After quite a few listens to Oceans Apart, all I got from the tracks were as follows: “Lights in the Distance” is the most typical post-rock song on here; “Hindsight” and “Summer Fades” both have quite enjoyable, though unfortunately short-lived, melodies throughout; “Oceans Apart” incorporates a sample that sounds forced; and the last track is pretty forgettable because I can’t really remember anything interesting about it. I will say that the album does get a bit more exciting with each listen, though after almost ten listens to Oceans Apart I don’t know how much more I can devote to trying to get the best out of Parhelia.
With all this being said, playing it safe has one advantage for Parhelia and that’s the fact that it’s pretty impossible to hate Oceans Apart. It’s just so down-the-line average that there is nothing on the album that you can find annoying. The problem with this though is that you leave Oceans Apart with the feeling that Parhelia lacks a sense of identity. The band does have the potential to change this and take their music into new directions, but all the potential in the world can’t save them now because they seem to have disbanded a few weeks ago. A shame really.
--Armand Babian
Comments
PA
Music Blog.
Depths blog. (my band)
Troy, Michigan
This EP's pretty good as well. It's just a shame they broke up so quickly... they had a lot of potential.
Minnesota
Find me EVERYWHERE:
It's blowin' cool outside today...
Los Angeles
postrockpaperscissors
Los Angeles
postrockpaperscissors
As I'm sure you can appreciate, it's tough being in and promoting an independent band so I put up a positive review for those who are still unsure!