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If
I come to this album with high expectations it is not
for no reason. Fall of Efrafa’s previous outing Elil,
was a giant slab of titillating crusty epic post metal.
As unfocused as that description might sound, Elil
had a
broad appeal, it was Fall of Efrafa’s perfect
combination of vast, open and heavy sounds mixed their
own radical politics; atheism, vegetarianism and animal
rights. I know they disagreed when I said they reminded
me of Neurosis, but for all of the San Franciscan’s
absence, these Brits well-carving sound more than made
up for it.
Little has
changed since 2007 and Inle, the final part of their trilogy
The
Warren of Snares, sees the band at best drifting in circles and
at worst, simply rehashing some of the so-so moments of Elil. The
first issue with Inle is its massive and tiresome length. There
are seven songs clocking at one hour and twenty minutes of
music. That’s a lot, yeah. Maybe such length was necessary to
finish telling their story. But to the listener, such extended
movements become dull a few times, especially when songs like
“Republic of Heaven” topple the fourteen minute mark and are
based on the uninventive repetition of utterly simplistic guitar
chords.
Still,
what’s not so good for Fall of Efrafa is excellent for others.
The post rock factor is downplayed here, but these songs still
reach down and show depth. “The Burial” evolves slowly and
naturally, from clarity to density, from lucid lightness to
unbearable heaviness. And this band doesn’t have to reach for
the pedal rack either. At least not that often. Fall of Efrafa
are an emotive bunch. It just seems like Inle is too stuck in
one gear to have true range. Despite their efforts to transit
from one shade to the next, the band doesn’t find a way to get
out of the corner.
Official Site
MySpace
Read the Deaf Sparrow review of
Elil here
Read the Deaf Sparrow interview with
Fall of Efrafa here
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