Vocals and vocalists. They can be the secret weapon that elevates a piece of music into a higher realm, that gives a band a key component to their identity, that once heard you couldn’t imagine them without. They can be a deal breaker too — the ear sore that spoils the whole experience. Sometimes they’re just bland as a wet paper bag. But a voice is a voice. They all say something. They all have a message to convey (even when the message is “sha la la la la”).
For Leeds’ post-rock five-piece Din of Celestial Birds, the message of the music is delivered purely through the expression of bass, synths, guitars (via three guitarists), and drums. Think of the post-Rock or post-Metal tag and often think of instrumental music. The challenge that often presents itself is twofold: being able to effectively express emotions that resonate (rock music is not techno, we need to feel something clutching at our hearts, no?) and furthermore, can the instrumental rock group (in a genre that has a tendency to settle into familiar musical tropes) distinguish themselves musically?
And how much of a preamble can I possibly take you on before I get to the point, you wonder?
Ok, by and large Din of Celestial Birds find a way to solve both puzzles on their debut album The Night is for Dreamers (A Cheery Wave / A Thousand Arms).
The musical landscape of The Night is for Dreamers (and the emotions conveyed in it) is at first pretty familiar. Soaring, layered guitars, both triumphant and melancholic? Yes. Sonically heavy riffs that blast the tenses, without being abrasive in tone? Absolutely. A certain air of mystery and magic? For sure. These are all well-worn features of the post-Rock playbook. So what separates the band (and their debut album) from the pack?
First of all, it would be churlish to fault the performances. There’s plenty of nimble guitar work, fingering melodies that tug at your heart, like the ascending lines of “Junebug” lifting you up to the heavens. Just as readily, the band deploys chunky, nu-metal-reminiscent grooves you can bop your head to. Underpinning the riffs and melodies, the drums and percussion never lack for powerful fills and ear-grabbing rhythms.
For the first three (of eight) tracks there’s that familiarity of “yes, I know post-rock, this sounds like post-rock” alongside moments of “oh, but this is interesting; ah I didn’t expect this!” It’s at the centrepiece-track “Laureate Of American Lowlife” (a homage to Charles Bukowski — so the press release says) however that Din of Celestial Birds really starts to distinguish itself. The near-eight-minute track is a real musical journey and the mood of the record starts to feel more multidimensional too. Having opened the album sounding like Jesu (if joy could replace some of the depression), by now the band also brings to mind that huge Devin Townsend signature of gigantic, jolly heaviness.
From here on in the album continues to offer something a little different with each track, from the piano and music-box-like accompaniment of “This Transient Spring”, to the glitchy smattering that appears on “Downpour”. By the epic alt-rock guitars of closer “I Love You But it’s Killing Me” the music has evoked plenty of other acts too, from Jarboe and A Perfect Circle to The Manic Street Preachers, Neurosis-offshoot Red Sparowes (and maybe even a little Coldplay).
Yes, when all is said and done this is still post-Rock, not Aphex Twin. The Night is for Dreamers does deliver what it appears within the first minutes that it will do. Ahhh but it does so in such an appealing and likable way. I think Din of Celestial Birds care and in this instance …I care because they do.
Buy the album here: https://dinofcelestialbirds.bandcamp.com/album/the-night-is-for-dreamers
8 / 10
TOM OSMAN