GAIRO - Her (2022)

Five years after releasing their self-titled debut album, the Sardinia-based six-piece band is back with a brilliant sophomore release called Her. The combination of heavy post-metal music with slower parts, Amenra-style, but with little to none inclusion of vocals makes a lasting impression and can only be recommended.

The band calls their music a "crossing between acoustic moments, progressive rock and a selected usage of vocals", and, in fact, the band can be really quiet for a metal sextet - there are long fragments filled with acoustic guitar sounds and drones that are closer to instrumental ambient with folkish aftertaste (as in Koobi Fora). And those peaceful moments are not really devoured by the post-metal noise; rather incorporated into, with the heavier parts still very careful on creating the slower, more meaningful atmosphere - sometimes more about grandeur, sometimes, as in my favourite Apogee, more about the unnerving anxiety.

The thematic side of the album is really curious: there are some clear references to the history of humankind with the Kenyan region of Koobi Fora known for important archaeological sites and the year of the implementation of the ban on importation of slaves into the United States (1808), those are easier to decipher. What I find also extremely important is the thematic and fantastically poignant cover photo that instantly becomes one of my favourite cover arts ever. And this photo together with other visual pieces surrounding the album, makes sure that we know this music is all about the humankind and its (her?) story.

Her costs 7 EUR.

Check: Apogee

Country: Italy

Genre: instrumental post-metal

Label: Drown Within Records

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