SUNRISEINTHESEA

This is music for which the term Math-rock makes sense for me. The music is mainly composed of repetitive, modular riffs which seem very square, angular, and "mathy" to me. Usually they're also in an odd time signature. Most of it moves at a pretty nice clip too.

This music, in contrast to that of bands like Don Caballero, which I tend to percieve as almost toneless, is quite toneful (melodic isn't quite the word, per se). It can become droney at times, when one sort of tonality is repeated for quite some time, but they're all very pleasing tones, almost psychedelic sounding. That, coupled with the lack of vocals (not that that's a criticism!), makes this a good album to have on repeat in the background while you need to shut out some noise or need to concentrate on work.

Oh, and It's free on bandcamp, so just go get it already!

This is math rock!

Some people get sometimes confused by the terms of post-rock and math-rock, and though in my not-so-good English it is difficult to me to explain the differences, I believe when we listen to bands such as Time Columns, the difference is actually evident. This young band (a duo, actually) has only a few years in the scene, but they are aiming for biggest goals. Their first EP entitled "Sunriseinthesea" is available for free download, so if you want to know a little deeper the math-rock realm, this is your chance.

With five songs and almost half an hour of music, this EP starts with "Spring", a good opener track that introduces us to their sound. The music is instrumental with never-ending strings and math notes; there are some claps as background while the guitars sound, and the drums never cease, as well. "Summer", in the other hand, is the longest composition. Since the second song one can realize that this genre might be repetitive, no matter the diversity of elements, the sound is really, really alike from one song to other.

"Hundred Flowers" is the one in the middle of the four stations. And here the sound is a bit different (at least in the first minute), more oriented to post-rock, with great guitars and nice drums. Later the math thing returns and the unstoppable guitars attack again with its sticky rhythm. There is like an interlude at minute two, and later it restarts and re-builds the structure, creating a diverse, and in my opinion, more interesting track.

With "Fall" the (let's say) original sound reappears: math and non-stop guitars complemented by drums; first it creates a kind and soft sound, but later another guitar appears with a heavier tone, closer to metal, but it only lasts some seconds because later it returns to its calmer sound, and continues like that at least for two or three minutes more. The last part is more emotional, but it does not explode as I thought it would.

The final track is "Winter" and since the first seconds is shows a more intense sound, and though its sound does not have drastic changes, there are some moments where it slows down a little bit, in order to open the gates to the heavier notes. After all, the math rock label is truly suitable for this band.

I liked but not loved this EP, honestly this genre is sometimes monotone and even boring, so if you are not a fan of it, you will probably suffer the same way I did; but if you do like the genre, then this is for you. My final grade, 2 stars, better for fans of the genre.

Enjoy it!