THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL DIE, THOSE WHO TELL THE TRUTH SHALL LIVE FOREVER

With a line up consisting of twin lead guitars bass and drums, the immediate assumption of us oldies might be that Explosions in the Sky (EitS) are Wishbone Ash wannabees. That theory is immediately discounted however when you realise that A) there are no vocals here, and B), there are no guitar solos in the traditional sense.

So what do we have instead? The term Post rock is commonly applied to the work of EitS, with their music being compared to bands such as MOGWAI and GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR. DEATH IN VEGAS are another band who immediately spring to mind as fellow journeymen.

This their second album consists of just 6 tracks, ranging between 6 and 12 minutes. It took less than a week to record, the band having driven for several days from their home in Texas to Baltimore, the location of their new label TRL records, to lay down the recordings.

The opening track "Greet death" sets the mood for the album, if it doesn't light your fire you can forget the rest. Chiming guitars precede the sudden crashing in of heavy drums and frantic chords. Throughout the album, the band use alternating quiet and loud passages (as Steve Wilson has been known to favour with Porcupine Tree), to dramatic effect. After a couple of tracks, these alternating phases become rather predictable, and begin to lose their impact.

"Tasmin the light", the second track, continues unbroken from the first, and is very much in the same vein. The closing part to the track even has passing similarities to the more repetitive parts of MIKE OLDFIELD's "Ommadawn".

"The moon is down" has an oriental flavour, the drums here being a bit heavy handed in a Cozy Powell sort of way. The final track " With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls" is slightly more varied, although the ending appears to have been drawn out in order to achieve a track time of exactly 12 minutes!

While far from being an ambient or new age album, the effect is largely the same. The music has a similar relaxing feel, while ultimately in need of more variety. The complete absence of vocals, other than a brief spoken passage on " Have You Passed Through This Night" is brave. However, when combined with a lack of keyboards, or indeed any lead instruments other than guitar, the over effect of the album is diluted by the ongoing predictability.

For those whose ideas of prog are more traditional, the credentials of EitS as a bona fide prog band are dubious. It is however reassuring to find that there are still bands such as this who are prepared to create music which is not simply three minute pop songs aimed at the superficial masses. Explosions in the Sky are clearly a band who take their art seriously. On the face of it with this album, their technical talents are limited, but they appear to recognised this and cut their cloth accordingly. A credible album.

The sleeve probably reflects the easily satisfied demands of the CD/MP3 generation, but it is a pity that more effort was not put in to providing packaging worthy of the album.

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