This Will Destroy You / Lymbyc Systym
There is a lot of epic instrumental around these days. It is a massively divisive genre which tends to be anathema or manna, depending on where you stand. A lack of vocals creates an issue for many, while others relish in the very concept and the emotive qualities of the music. ‘Field Studies’ is a fine example of the genre, crisply accomplished. But what is it adding?
Conceived while the bands were on tour together at the end of 2007, it features two tracks by Texas four piece, This Will Destroy You and three by Arizonan brother team, Lymbyc Sysytm. One release statement suggests that with ‘Field Studies’ this collaboration is pushing the genre forward, but however much you like what you hear, that is a stretch that even Reed Richards might have trouble with.
TWDY start things off with the typically dystopian ‘Brutalism and The Worship of The Machine’. The bravado of the opening salvo with its torrent of distorted guitar delay and big hearted drums is magnificent, but in no way new. It dies away after two and a half minutes to an ambient fade out. Eight minutes later it’s still going and morphs into the next song, a shorter but similarly inoffensive affair, almost imperceptibly. This is all very consummate, well played and produced material. Indeed, the sort of stuff I really enjoy. But it is so reminiscent of other music by similar artists, that it leaves me with little desire to reach for some nice stationery and my parental address.
As the reins are handed over to Jared and Michael Bell, the shift in sound is subtle rather than seismic. Lymbyc Systym maintain the cogent tone with first track, ‘Processed Spirits’. At the same time however they manage to pick things up a notch. This is most definitely the stand out recording of the five. The shuffling and snappy drums spark my interest whilst the off kilter Rhodes Piano riff is a refreshing break from the norm. It breaks into a middle section with a spoken word sample in the background before an up-tempo layered guitar section. An ensuing piano sequence is all a bit too ‘hope rock’ for me, but is mercifully brief. The next two tracks follow a similarly bright and skippy tone and it is not until the last minute or so of final song, ‘Narita’ that a clever change in tempo reminds me that I was listening to something.
This accomplished release, despite manifesting so many of the signs that typify a genre which captivates me, largely fails to excite. It almost argues a case for those who ‘just don’t get it’.
Top Tracks: 'Brutalism and The Worship of The Machine', 'Processed Spirits'.
Released January 26th on Magic Bullet