ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!

Following their lengthy hiatus, GY!BE released an album that was worth the wait. Allelujah consists of two lengthy post-rock tracks, alternating with two shorter drone pieces. Aside from the very beginning of Mladic, there aren't any samples, so the drone tracks are used to break things up along with some mellow, ambient-based parts at the beginning of the longer songs.

Unsurprisingly, the longer songs really deliver. The songwriting is at its best here, with driving buildup and beautiful peaks. Once Mladic gets started, it doesn't stop, instead working as one flowing, twenty-minute epic. The composition is top-notch, though there aren't really any atmospheric vibes from this one. We Drift Like Worried Fire, on the contrary, is an exercise in mood in several movements. The opening riff is ominous at first, but as the song grows and changes, it becomes uplifting and almost too gorgeous to handle, reverts to creepy, and then finishes with a glorious post-rock crescendo.

Allelujah has atmosphere, but the main draw here is the songwriting on Mladic and Worried Fire. GY!BE is able to make the songs flow without much of the stop/start dynamics that tend to make songs sound disjointed, while retaining individual, distinct movements. There is more "action" on here, drone tracks aside, rather than the inclusion of samples and ambient passages.

It's hard for me to judge the quality of the two short songs, considering I am not a big fan of drone; I think of them more as interludes. Meanwhile two main songs on Allelujah are solid offerings of post-rock and definitely recommended. Great comeback album.