Battle of Britain Memorial – The Aftermath of Your Bright Beings

Though they tread down a path that has been taken by many other post-metal acts that have fused their sound with screamo or hardcore elements, Battle of Britain Memorial are still certain to impress. With a variety of influences including well-known bands such as Mogwai, Cult of Luna, Russian Circles and Rosetta, you can be assured that the sound that comes out of your speakers will be every bit as powerful as you think.

Upon playing through the album, I immediately drew a comparison to Buried Inside, a band who plays music in the same vein as Battle of Britain Memorial. Frontman Ludo’s shrieks convey anger in a convincing manner, and they blend seamlessly with the guitar riffs and the aggressive drumming. It’s worth mentioning that even the bass playing on this album stands out in the mix. It’s always pleasing to hear that the unsung hero of the low-end doesn’t get abandoned in the mix, as is often the case. The band is tight and, though the sound of the rhythms and passages of most songs aren’t an unfamiliar sound to fans of atmospheric sludge metal, the band manages to stay fresh and avoid sounding derivative. Their clear production is another factor that I particularly enjoyed, and because everything stood out, each song was hard hitting, and the subdued breaks still managed to sound thick because of the immaculate attention to the low shelf.

‘Welcome to Rapture’ starts the album on an energetic note and builds up to massive riffs, drumming and shrill vocals that are fit for an apocalypse. The start of the album contains much of the heavier moments and the music progressively becomes calmer, which I guess allows the listener some time to collect their own thoughts about things, whether they’re album related or not. I quite like the “heavy to calm” dynamic on this album, as it enables the listener to finish the album on a much calmer note, and they know when to expect the climax (the final song), instead of just listening to the album, and having it finish on a note that they perceive as abrupt.

All in all, ‘The Aftermath of Your Bright Beings’ is 40 minutes of your life that you won’t mind seeing taken from you. You’ll even find yourself listening to this more than once, and it’s an album that many of you can add to your “best of” lists for 2011. Great stuff.