FINAL QUIET

Considering the Chichester, UK post-rock band FLIES ARE SPIES FROM HELL has been in existence since 2004, this quintet of Chris (guitar), Will (guitar), George (bass), Watty (drums) and Fred (keyboards) hasn't been very productive in the studio but rather opting to spend much of their time touring and playing in live settings. I'm sure a killer live album will emerge one day but for now in the bands sixteen year wake, only three studio albums, three EPs and a remix album have seen the light of day.

FINAL QUIET is the band's latest effort released in 2020 and the album title does raise the question as to whether it actually signifies the band's intent of calling it quits or does it have a more symbolic meaning that remains undisclosed in some abstract only-the-band-itself-gets-it kinda way. Whatever the case, these guys must really get together well since the lineup remains the same after all this time, an almost unthinkable feat in the world of modern music but when happy buttons are pushed, why fight a good thing? This album comes five years after the previous "Underdog Underfoot" although an ambient remix of that album followed in 2018 but that sounds lame to me so i'm skipping it. Generally speaking i hate remix albums.

It sounds like the ambient remix album has left an indelible impression on the band though because FINAL QUIET whether it's FINAL or not (as far as the band's releases go), it certainly does display truth in advertising with the QUIET part of the title's equation. This is a noticeably mellower album overall than the previous works. While the piano remains the focus of the band's distinct sound, the band has lost a lot of the ferociousness that made the first two albums so exhilarating. While the earlier albums featured a unique mix of post-rock mixed with prog and math rock, FINAL QUIET also tamps down the progressive and math aspects leaving a fairly ordinary example of post-rock in the vein of Explosions In The Sky or Mogwai only with a piano roll that seems to sound like the theme to the Exorcist at time!

The musicians all sound like they're on top of their game but Watty seems to have softened up a bit on his amazing jazzified drumming skills of the first two albums. This album is all about a logical post-rock procession from soft build ups to climactic guitar power chord crescendoes. Yep, pretty much like most post-rock out there. Somehow this band has lost its edge and now sounds as if it's drifting in a sea of generic amnesia. Oh no! This is surprising considering how much time has elapsed between albums. Even the tones and timbres seem to be set on auto pilot and all the quirks of the past have been laid to rest. The album is once again is the playing time of an average vinyl record of the past but two tracks race past the nine minute mark yet everything on this one is missing that spark of creativity that made the first two albums so special.

While there's nothing inherently displeasing about FINAL QUIET, unfortunately this one sounds like post-rock by the numbers rather than being infused with clever outbursts of creative mojo. This one is a little too sleepy for my tastes. Although heftier rock passages occur, this one very much spends a lot of its time teasing long piano rolls into layered instrumental interplay which pretty much only supports the main idea rather than crafting clever counterpoints. This one almost sounds like it needs a vocalist as it doesn't sound as rich. The tapestry of sound has unravelled and now all we get is a single strand. All i can say is that this one doesn't really do it for me and if this is a sign of the future for FLIES ARE SPIES FROM HELL then i do hope that the album title really refers to the FINAL part as much as the QUIET.