BIRDS OF FIRE

Prior to hearing this recording, the only post-rock albums I'd listened to closely were two EPs by the Norwegian band 1099. Compared to those albums, Reinvention has a much cleaner sound. Whereas 1099's wall of sound was often impenetrable, here we can hear the bass clearly. To achieve this, the engineer seems to use a "everything louder than everything else" approach, resulting in some audible distortion at around 1:07 on "Outside" as the bass guitar and cymbals enter. Ouch!

The playing is deft all around. According to Birds of Fire's Prog Archives page, they were primarily a live act, and it shows. In fact, there's at least one minor flub (also on "Outside"), giving the impression that these were live takes with a minimum of overdubs. The guitar effects seem to have been performed live (except possibly for some synth-sounding FX on both guitars at the end of "Rebel Cleric," though I bet they're live too). Meanwhile, the drums and bass sound relatively dry. With some stage banter and crowd noise, Reinvention would probably sound like a very well performed live gig.

In all, Reinvention is a nice enough post-rock EP, although that's coming from someone who's very new to the genre. On the other hand, Birds of Fire really don't distinguish themselves compositionally?though maybe I'm expecting something that just isn't consistent with the genre. I'd recommend it to progressive-rock fans who might think that post-rock is just noise. But be warned, this has almost nothing to do with Mahavishnu Orchestra!