Massachussetts post rockers keep the wheel in motion on their self titled album.
Being a band for 20 years or more is not an easy task by any stretch of the imagination. Even when you set aside all the challenges that come alongside being a band in this day and age, how does one keep their music enthralling for their established fanbase throughout such a prolonged period of time? Do you just stick to your guns and keep doing what you do best, or do you push yourself out of your comfort zone and release an album that reinvents the wheel? Surely that was a question post rock quintet Caspian had when it came to approaching their sixth album. After so many years of pushing the boundaries of their creative outlet, where do they take things next? Rather fittingly for a self titled album, Caspian have opted to take a ‘if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it’ approach to their latest work and have released an album that might not break boundaries in ways they have before, but excells at everything it executes.
Most the tracks on Caspian are fairly lengthy, as is to be expected from a post rock act. Opening track ‘Hiraeth’ and closing track ‘Waltz For the End’ are the only two tracks on the album that are shorter than five minutes, bookending four tracks which range from six to nine minutes. It’s not an enviable task to be able to keep a track like that engaging to a listener for such a long period of time, especially without vocals for them to latch onto. One thing that the band are consistently good at is creating a great sense of atmosphere and build up with songs that gracefully take the listener on a audible journey through swooping passages that captivate them from beginning to end. Single ‘Remain’, easily the longest track on the album, is a great example of this. At just over nine minutes, the song is filled to the brim with beautiful guitar work accompanied by pounding and crashing rhythm and percussion work that at times feels haunting whilst retaining a melancholic beauty to it. It’s a track that comes full circle, ending somewhat similarly to how it began whilst also having a different feel to it to encapsulate the feeling of going on a journey and returning home somewhat changed.
There’s also a fair amount of variety on the album throughout the six tracks. Opening track ‘Hiraeth’ slowly builds up layers, starting off somewhat minimalist with one guitar playing long, drawn out notes before being accompanied by quiet acoustic arpeggios which eventually get joined by a string section. The track noticeably doesn’t feature any drums, which makes it more impactful when the drums eventually start on the next track ‘Far Country’. Fourth track ‘A Great Fire’ has more of a prog vibe to it and has the bass and percussion work coming more to the forefront, and emotional finale “Waltz for the End” stands out through being in a key which differs from the rest of the tracks on the album and has a real sense of finality to it.
While this isn’t a reinvention of the wheel, this isn’t just another Caspian record either. It’s the sound of a band playing to their strengths and creating a collection of work that stands tall alongside the rest of their already stellar discography. After over 20 years of playing music together, there’s still plenty of oil in the tank and Caspian‘s future shines blindingly bright.