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Leech - The Stolen View CD (album) cover

THE STOLEN VIEW

Leech

 

Post Rock/Math rock

4.03 | 43 ratings

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zravkapt
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Leech is a five-piece instrumental band from Switzerland. This is either their third or fourth album, depending on your source. I'm surprised The Stolen View has not been reviewed yet as it has such high ratings. Leech formed in 1996 and have a new album out in 2012; that album was a let down compared to hearing this one. The new album sounded like your typical post-rock stuff on auto-pilot, while The Stolen View is much more interesting and less stereotypical post-rock sounding. In other words, this album does not generally sound like what most people would think post-rock would sound like, whereas the new one actually does. This album grows on you (it grew on me, anyway). I didn't like it near as much when I first heard it.

Two short tracks bring the quality of the album down a bit. The main reason this is not getting five stars. "Ziipfe" is mostly guitar effects and vibraphone, while "I Was Reversed" is weird synth noises and tape effects. Not horrible but nothing special either...they basically act as 'filler' here. The album begins with "Silent State Optimizer" which is some great post- rock in the Mogwai vein. Features great minimal electric piano and fuzzy, sustained guitar notes and the occasional synth squiggle. The drumming here is fairly simple and straight- forward yet the drummer sounds more loose and busy than he appears to be. Later on there is an actual guitar riff that sounds like alternative rock from the 1990s. Some guitar arpeggios and sustained keyboard notes are reprised in this track. Steady bass drum thumping and guitar strumming leads to melodic guitar playing.

"The Man With The Hammer" starts out with a Mogwai/GYBE hybrid guitar style. A laid-back drumbeat comes in along with some vibraphone reminding me of Tortoise. One guitar does arpeggios while the other plays floating single notes. After the tempo picks up this second guitar plays some rockin' chords. The arpeggio guitar then switches to steady strumming. More guitar arpeggios later with some spacey synth sounds. Rockin' guitar chords to end it. "Inspiral" is the highlight of the album. Delayed/chorused guitar picking is overlaid with various soundscapes from keyboards and other guitars. Some sort of melody is played on synth. Pounding tom-toms enter the scene as the guitar picking gets more varied.

Military style drumming leads the band to a slow-paced rockin' section. Following this begins one of the best build-ups I've heard in post-rock. First backwards sounds (including reverse chord progressions) and vibraphone, then a slow tempoed drumbeat and subdued melodic guitars get joined by distorted yet melodic synth. The drummer starts to pick up the pace with his tom-tom hitting before he stops playing altogether. 2 note guitar playing leads to the slow-paced rockin' section being reprised, although now the drumming is more busy than earlier. "Totem & Tabu" is the almost 20 minute closer to the album. Here you will find the most traditional rock style of guitar playing with actual riffs throughout the piece. It's hard to compare this track with other post-rock as it is fairly unique.

At one point you hear a riff that sounds very Muse-like; this riff later gets reprised. A lot of the riffs get repeated but not in any kind of predictable or linear fashion. A drumbeat takes the spotlight as spacey soundcapes surround it. This leads to the least rockin' section of the epic: some dark ambient music with backwards talking. Some distorted yelling as the band comes back in laid-back arpeggio mode. Eventually the arpeggios make room for some chords and riffs. Almost a guitar solo towards the end. Nothing really original on this album but it is very good with great sound and production. I was not aware until researching this album that is also available on Bandcamp. If you want a great sounding and fairly consistent post-rock album from the past 5-10 years, look no further. Well, you can look as far as you want...just listen to this first. I will give this a 4.5 rounded down to 4 stars.

zravkapt | 4/5 |

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