'Age Of The Fifth Sun' - God Is An Astronaut (7/10)

Along with Texan breakthrough artists Explosions In The Sky, the enigmatic Irish group God Is An Astronaut essentially dominate the instrumental post-rock sphere. Not unlike many of their contemporaries, the band is known for their soaring atmospheric sound, ethereal guitar arrangements and brooding compositions. While the band's fifth album 'Age Of The Fifth Sun' sees no revolution in the band's sound, God Is An Astronaut does deliver here, making for a pleasant, if not completely engaging listen.

Something that may differentiate God Is An Astronaut from other post-rock bands such as the aforementioned Explosions In The Sky is their use of electronics in their soundscapes, and in their songs for added atmosphere and effect. 'Age Of The Fifth Sun' may show the band progressing a little more into using electronic equipment in the mix, but existing fans of this band should expect nothing different from previous albums. Melancholic, yet uplifting, beautiful guitar work, lush backing ambiance and some of the most technically accomplished and tasteful drumming the genre has to offer are all staples of the music heard on 'Fifth Sun'.

The compositions are fairly minimalistic, which will inevitably lead to some finding the music somewhat boring, should they be looking for something a bit more to the point. However, each track here does retain some memorable qualities, and parts even reach the point of being 'catchy', in a pop sense. The opener 'Worlds In Collision' for example; while being far from the strongest track on 'Fifth Sun', it has a very engaging, energetic melodic section that seems to act as a 'chorus', and the rest of the track seems to meander around the peak, before trailing off into a beautifully done piano outro. However, the most stunning track here may be 'Shining Through,' which ironically is the most typically post-rock oriented piece of music on the album. Soaring and steadily building lead work from the guitar flies overtop the rest of the mix, before breaking down in a heavier climax. While many of the songs here appear to follow a similar formula, 'Shining Through' holds the most sway with me.

'Age Of The Fifth Sun' is nothing new for God Is An Astronaut, so those who dislike the band will keep on disliking. For anyone else though, the album stands as being a very good piece of work, despite the fact that the band has arguably done better for themselves in the past, and there isn't much here that we haven't already heard.

With regards to the comment about electronic elements creeping in post rock, this is actually refreshing; not necessarily the electronic elements themselves, but trying to freshen up and perhaps reinvent post rock, and not redo the same thing over and over and re-record GYBE, EITS, Mono etc sounding albums over and again and so these bands are bringing in fresh air to this instrumental epic rock domain. 

Another band is Maserati and their new album. Pyramid of the Sun (which is not yet added to their PA page); an album in which, though simpler song forms are present, their layering and sound is different than the surrounding post rock ocean of bands. 

In any case, I second this thread's album of focus.