by Caleb Doyle (@ClassicDoyle)
Godspeed You! Black Emperor is in the business of scoring films by way of post-rock, where the films are happening in real life and the scenes are as tragic as they are triumphant. Since the late 90s, GY!BE have been experimental pioneers in anti-establishment protest rock. 2002’s Yanqui U.X.O. is a direct response to post-9/11 aggression that draws a straight line between record labels and military spending. 2021’s G_d’s Pee at State’s End! imagines a forceful restructuring of society in the wake of a global pandemic. They’ve made each of these bold statements with little more than strong instrumentals and field recordings. How does a band write protest music with no lyrics? Beyond sparse liner notes and the ultra-rare interview, they do it with deep sonic intent, and song titles that mince no words.
On their eighth and latest studio album, “NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD", the leaderless Canadian collective turns all eyes and ears to Gaza, where for nearly a year tens of thousands of Palestinians have been crushed by the Israeli government’s relentless bombings. The title itself is a reference to the estimated death toll at the time, which has more than doubled since then. The album opens with feedback that evokes the whirring propellers of a war plane. The jarring noises turn into a distorted, mournful dirge called “SUN IS A HOLE SUN IS VAPORS,” led by shuffling percussion and droney noodling. GY!BE sets the tone immediately with a track that is both beautiful and menacing—a balance they strike throughout all six tracks. It is a waking-up for what’s to come.
The meat of the album comes in the two following tracks, “BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD” and “RAINDROPS CAST IN LEAD”. The former opens with more feedback manipulation that reminds us again of the bloody atrocity at hand—distant explosions and whining sirens. The track then picks up into a bouncy swing and hits a triumphant post-rock stride midway through, a glimmer of hope in the chaos. GY!BE settles into their signature gargantuan wall of sound and trades melodic riffs as the drums drive. The final third is a mournful reflection on the preceding devastation. A wailing string section reminds us of the gravity of the situation. Read the title again. It’s real.
“RAINDROPS…” starts off quiet and reflective, perhaps a bit of respite from the heavy energy of the previous track. It moves quickly into an upbeat groove where violins dance atop a looping guitar riff and big splashy drums. Though the subject matter is gravely serious, this track mostly feels gripping and triumphant. It is some of the most accessible post-rock that Godspeed You! Black Emperor has ever recorded, and it reminds you of their chops as atmospheric powerhouses. In the coming tracks, we will look back and wish dearly for this escape from the menace.
“BROKEN SPIRES AT DEAD KAPITAL” and “PALE SPECTATOR TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS” are a stark contrast to the tracks before. With pure, distilled sorrow and doom, the music grounds us and we remember again what is at stake. “BROKEN SPIRES…” is a relatively short interlude, built around a string performance plucked from the heart of a grisly horror film. It’s unsettling. It slinks seamlessly into “PALE SPECTATOR…” which is a nightmare portrayed in sound. With a constant pounding drum reminiscent of the opening of Audioslave’s “Cochise,” each movement of this track is jarring and deeply affecting. Guitars and strings collide in movie climax cacophony that raises the heart rate. There is nowhere to hide from the power of this composition, and it contextualizes the constantly unfolding horror in Gaza.
Finally, perhaps in a signal of an evolved philosophy, we are left with a strong dose of beauty on “GREY RUBBLE – GREEN SHOOTS”. Through the destruction, through the aggression, if there is a way to get our deeply fractured world across to the other side of this atrocity, there may be a chance for healing and hope. “Every day a new war crime, every day a flower bloom… war is coming. Don’t give up. Pick a side. Hang on. Love.” the liner notes say.
“NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024, 28,340 DEAD” is both a documentation of unspeakable evil and a plea for peace and love. It makes no hesitation to speak truth to power, and it does so with no words. Sonically, it is as effective a post-rock masterpiece as anything Godspeed You! Black Emperor has recorded. We can only hope, as we always have, that the next album is recorded and released in a better world.