LABIRINTO

Brazil has never been a mecca for the Post-rock genre, yet the band Brazilian based Labirinto continues to make an influence on the Brazilian prog scene by making post rock. The band formed in 2003 and have released several EPs and 3 full length studio albums. Their 3rd album is called "Divino Afflante Spiritu" and was released in February 2019. The band in its current line up consists of 3 guitarists (one of which also shares keyboard duties), a bassist, a percussionist and a drummer. This album consists of 7 tracks and a total run time of just over 35 minutes, track times running between :51 and 7:39.

The album starts off with "Agnus Dei" which is the only track that features vocals, specifically from Elaine Campos. The track starts off dark and quickly turns heavy with a excellent drum pattern that spurs on more intensity. At 2 minutes, guitars continue with a wall of sound style drone while the drums and bass regenerate intensity again. Campos' vocals start about a minute later, and, I will warn you, are dirty black metal style vocals. After this dramatic beginning, the last thing I wanted to hear was screeching vocals, so thank goodness there are no more vocals on this album.

"Penitencia" starts off with a clanging bell and then bursts into a sudden barrage of guitars playing an intense riff before going into the dark melody. Again, as on the last track, the drums are quite active and that is a giant plus with this music. Also consistant with the last track, is the heaviness, so far the band has a similar dark and heavy sound to Pelican, but with a less plodding style. Synths are quite well utilized here, continuing the dark, heavy sound. Feedback flows into the next track "Eleh Ha Devarim" and then the wall of guitars crash in on you again with another heavy churning riff. At 2:30, the music moves to another heavy and chunky riff. This time things are more chaotic for a while, but it returns to the original riff.

"Demiurge" manages to break the 6 minute mark. The track begins in a more experimental style at first and then takes a quieter approach in the beginning, but instead of slowly increasing, it quickly and suddenly gets heavy. There is a section where it sort of meanders while stewing in its heaviness like it is trying to decide where to go, then the dark synths kick in taking the dark melody for a while. After that, the music gets really thick and heavy, churning along while the drums go wild, then returning to the original theme. Then the music fades. The short "Vigilia" comes next with spooky and atmospheric processed female vocals and increasing drones.

The sound then flows into "Asherdu" by way of feedback and more churning dark guitar riffs and crazy drums. This one is more of a plodding track with a slow rhythm. At 3 minutes, there is finally a reprieve from the noise as things quiet down for a short melodic interlude with the guitars, but after a minute, it returns to loud guitars again. The last track is the 7+ minute title track. This is another slow, plodding track, again with heavy and dark guitars creating another wall of heaviness. Before 3 minutes, things suddenly go atmospheric with subdued spoken vocals and things actually stay quiet and build in intensity over a longer period. Overall, however, the sound is similar to the other tracks.

The music is definitely post rock, but it is also metallic and heavy, staying on the dark side with very little dynamic involved. This is great music for those that love the heavy post rock sound of "Pelican" or even maybe lovers of Black Metal, as long as it is mostly instrumental. To me, its okay at first, but I find myself crying out for more dynamics and variation in the overall sound. There are very few instances of this. Post rock many times relies on dynamics to build their music, but there is little of that here, the best instance of this is on the title track. I'm not saying that all post rock has to follow this formula, in fact, I would rather they don't, but that they use dynamics in new and unique ways like the better post rock bands do. Some will find this music appealing, but the heaviness is mostly unrelenting. In the meantime, I give it 3 stars.

I discovered this Brazilian band like four years ago, but honestly, I lost track of them until some weeks ago while looking at my reviews, I saw I had reviewed one of their releases, so I did not lose time anymore and went to Labirinto's bandcamp page in order to re-discover their music and the releases I had not listened before. One of them is this EP entitled Kadjwynh released on 2012 that shows greatly the post rock and post metal tendency of this band. The EP features just 4 compositions making a total time of 20 worht-listening-minutes.

It opens with "Non Sunt Daemones", a short one minute introduction that has a dark atmosphere, spacey and nearly in the drone realm. It leads to "Tuira" which now has melody on it and the almost-mandatory emotional sound of post- rock. The music is great, with fast and atmospheric guitars while drums produce a lot of energy. At half the song there is a pause, some calm moments and then the music starts again, you know, slowly progressing until reaching a brief climax. "Piam Ket" starts with the same sound of the previous song's last seconds, however it changes later, becoming a bit noisy and then heavier, reminding me a bit of 65daysofstatic.

The last song is a ten-minute post rock feast entitled "Cairo", in which we can enjoy to another face of Labirinto, because there are strings that make a beautiful combination between classical music and post rock, creating somber and disarming atmospheres at the same time; the music has different stations, I mean, passages that produce a diversity of images and textures, all of them beautifully composed and structured. I think this song is wonderful, and demonstrates that Labirinto is a great post rock band that might not have the awareness of others big names, but that has to be discovered by fans of this genre.

My final grade will be three stars. Enjoy it!

Labirinto is a Brazilian Post Rock band. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of the genre. But this guys deserve some attention. In first place, this kind of music was never easy to diggest, not different in Anatema (2010).

The album comes wrapped ina very nice digipack with great artwork. Anatema (2010) was released by the band's label Dissenso.

In general Anatema (2010) comes with many moods and ambience music. The one that tries to take you in a little journey. Instruments like cello and violin like in the second track 'Incendiários' help this to actually help.

This is a good album, very well produced and with great artwork. Have to say that gets a bit tiring towards the end. Maybe Labirinto could concetrate in polish a bit more their songwritting. In fact they did that on their next EP, Kadjwynh (2012).

In fact 3.5.

Enter to the labyrinth!

Labirinto are a Brazilian post-rock band that started playing together in the last decade. Now it is evident how successful this musical genre has become, so people from all over the world is interested in both, listening to post-rock bands, and creating new bands, so I may say this is one of the musical genres for future generations.

Well, this south-american band released last year (2010) their first studio album called "Anatema", a record that I have not listened yet. And one year earlier (2009) they self- released "Etéreo", a three-song EP with 24 minutes of instrumental heavy post-rock. By the way, this is a free-to-download EP, so you can go to their bandcamp site and get it.

It starts with "Arcabuz" which happens to be the longest one with almost twelve minutes. This song is a very nice introduction to Labirinto's sound, here we can appreciate their tendency to the heavy side of post rock, even some people label them as a post-metal band, but well, subjectivity works here, as usual. I like the guitar sound all over the track, and I like keyboards work after five minutes when the music turns different, spacey and atmospheric. A minute later the guitars enter once again and the song is being built-up until it reaches a climax; the last three minutes of the song are very exciting.

"Temporis" lasts nine minutes. It starts with a somber atmospheric sound, and after a minute guitars enter and begin to create a rhythm and a structure, there are beautiful string arrangements and not only for the guitars, but for the violin and cello that can be listened every now and then. Well, after three minutes the song's mood and sound increases and becomes heavier and more emotional; this lasts for two minutes until the song makes a stop and vanishes for a little while. Then, it has a kind of sad and mellow sound, with soft guitars and a cello. And as you can imagine, later the song changes once again and turns heavier, keeping the same sound until it finishes.

"Silencio Póstumo" is the last track here. A short three-minute piece that closes a very good EP. Here the sound belongs to the soft side of post-rock, bands such as Sigur Ros, Mono or Explosions in the Sky can be remembered here. A relaxing and beautiful track.

Go and download this Labirinto EP, if you are fan of post-rock you will surely like it. Now I am interested in their full-length album, hopefully I will listen to it soon. My final grade will be three strong stars.

Enjoy it!

A heart-warming album.

I consider myself a Post-Rock fan, especially of GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, a band that pushed the boundaries of the genre, and I've always searched for other interesting post-rock bands. The only "issue" I have with GY!BE sometimes it's the very dark mood. Some songs, like Antennas to Heaven, could even be described as depressive, but are so beatifull you may find yourself smiling while crying. It's truly unique.

Most bands in the genre have that same mood, EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY is a great example, since even the delicated songs like The Only Moment Whe Were Alone have that haunting, almost ghostly sound. You could say SIGUR ROS has a lighter tone, but still the songs are sad. I apologize for the metafor, but they feel as watching kids play after an funeral. So I kept looking for something new.

I came across Labirinto with DIS#1, a compilation of brazilian post-rock bands released in 2008 by the underground DISSENSO label. They were easily the highlight of the album, so when I heard they where going for an album in 2010, I was really looking foward to it.

When ANATEMA was released, I was in awe. Not only the graphic art was amazing, with an painting for each song, the album was exactly what I sought after, a great post-rock album, filled with unique and bright moments. ANATEMA is a great GY!BE inspired album, BUT it truly shines when showing its own, light and unique sound, creating beatifull compositions with a heart-warming mood.

"Chromo" is a wonderfull song. Unlike most post-rock songs, it feels "real", as you were with the band, sitting on a busy avenue, wacthing the final rays of light as they vanish from the skyline on a lazy sunday. You wish it would go on forever, but when it ends you stay there, just remebering how it was, happy and motionless. The second half of the song is a master-piece. Even darker songs, like "Flagelo", have a faint feeling of hope, instead of the usual anger or disbelief in the genre. It could be the brazilian culture, bringing some colors to a genre born in northen, grey landscapes, it doesn't matter.

Although I cannot say it's the best post-rock album I ever heard, but I can truly say it's the one that makes me happier.

Post-Rock, Experimental. The first disc sounds like a maze full of bombast. Starting with the cover and booklet, a spectacle. Turning pro sound, the atmosphere created by the band sucks you inside the "Anatema". There is no one listening, six songs in 70 minutes and shattered Godspeed You Black Emperor and Mogwai in the corners. 'Reverso' face leaves you stuck in the chair, sensational. The double late 'Flagelo' and 'Anatema' is simple and silences sound explosions. "Chromo" sensational! Beautiful banjo!

Therein lies the big question of the disc, I'll give you some advice, but ask you to think well if will actually want to follow him. Listen to the album on repeat and you will realize that the album is cyclical, and infinite completely interconnected. The problem is that you can end up losing even more through this maze can not circulate and may never leave. Maybe you will not find me for it? I'm still lost in the intricacies of a beautiful maze and do not know if I want to leave ...

Required!