EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY レコード& CD

Review: Returning with their first full-length in seven long arduous years, Texan post-rock pioneers Explosions In The Sky rediscover their purpose and poise on eighth full-length End. Following on from 2016's The Wilderness, which toyed with ambient segues and electronic moments of respite to compartmentalise the epic song-structures, this latest batch of material opts to eschew many of these meanderings in order to prioritise their bombastic, emotive, swelling spectacles with little in the way of sonic dressing. Mercurial, thoughtfully paced and potently cathartic, the work serves as a revitalised and transient embracing of classic post-rock motifs, crafted by some of the very hands that initially begat the forms.

Review: Fans of Explosions In The Sky no doubt read the band's new album title with a degree of trepidation. Would this be the grand finale it has always felt like the outfit were gearing up for? Hopefully not, but nevertheless it certainly has the power of a magnum opus. "Every song comes from a story, or an idea one of us has had that we've all expanded on and made its own world," the group say of the new LP. "Our starting point [here] was the concept of an ending - death." If that sounds bleak then it might be worth reconsidering attitudes towards endings. Rather than wallowing, Explosions In the Sky do what they have always done so well here, but perhaps even better than before. Monumentally-sized operatic rock music highly influenced by classical, grand enough to see your entire life pass before the mind's eye as the keys, refrains and bombastic melodies unfold, reminding us that while nothing last forever, it was probably a blessing to be here in the first place.