AtonalitA - Collaboration of Souls (2023)

I know Siamak Ghorbanian Aghdam, from his previous album as AtonalitA, as a solo artist who combines post-rock music with the sounds of violin. However, it seems that he doesn't want to work only on his own as his new album, fittingly called Collaboration of Souls, offers a broad variety of unique collabs.

The thing that immediately draws attention is certainly the list of guest musicians. It includes tones of either solo post-rockers (the abyss inside us, The Glass Pavilion) or lesser known bands (like my compatriots from YENISEI). This is a prime selection from the underground post-rock world (literally from all around the globe). As on his solo works, violin is what drives the compositions enriching them with this hard-to-miss nostalgic and beautiful atmosphere. They are accompanied by mostly acoustic and not-that-overwhelming post-rock music, but this means that the violin is only better audible. 

Collaboration of Souls costs 3 USD.

Check: Lost in Memories

Country: Iran

Genre: violin-led post-rock

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Yenisei - Reflections (2021)

Two years ago, they debuted with the impressive The Last Cruise, and, together with Transmission Zero, they got known as the new and well-promising post-rock bands from Kraków. Yenisei were the more atmospheric and spacious ones and it's also true with their new album Reflections.

While the album opens with the genre's traditional guitar-based but also melodic Gravity, the album goes on towards compositions that are more into creating a certain, spacious atmosphere. As usual, the melodies are also present here but they are more subtle and often keys-based (like in Aftermath) which makes the whole album more delicate than the debut; in the first half, not so often turning into louder, heavier crescendos, like it is in Waves and Blurred Horizon. This second track may be a turning point for the album as its second part seems to be noisier with the fast and aggressive (but also synthy) No Escape and loudly atmospheric Memories of Times Before. This culminates in my favourite track on the album, All That You Could Become and its impressive finish. This makes me feel like the whole album was supposed to be structured as a one, almost-an-hour-long post-rock song with the beautiful start with occasional bursts of energy, slow build-up and massive release towards the end. That's some good song-writing.

Reflections costs 4.5 EUR.

Yenisei - The Last Cruise (2019)

Check: All That You Could Become

Country: Poland

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

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Yenisei - The Last Cruise (2019) EN

They revealed their first album suddenly and it came as a surprise, a week ago they threw their first gig (and I was lucky to be there), before that they were involved in different projects in different genres but their atmospheric post-rock sounds as if they played it for a long time already. Check it out on the debut The Last Cruise.

Atmosphere is the key word here. The generation of it is aided by the way the Kraków-based musicians build their compositions but also by the keys that can't be appreciated enough. Perhaps the guitar don't create as noisy wall of sound as they could have (and as they do live) but this is why the attention is drawn by the keys. And by the drums that in some fragments (as in Perseids) get into a real drumrolling trance giving away such a strong pace.

Perhaps the most interesting combination of those ingredients is Roads with great deal of beautiful keys, mad guitars and buckets of atmosphere. Debut worth every attention.

The Last Cruise costs 5 EUR (20 PLN).

Check: Roads 

Country: Poland

Genre: atmospheric post-rock

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Yenisei - The Last Cruise (2019) PL

Swoją pierwszą płytę pokazali znienacka na początku listopada, tydzień temu zagrali swój pierwszy koncert (na którym miałem okazję być), wcześniej grali inne rzeczy a ich atmosferyczny post-rock brzmi jakby siedzieli w tym gatunku od bardzo dawna. Sprawdźcie sami na debiutanckim The Last Cruise.

Atmosfera to na płycie słowo klucz. W kreowaniu pomaga jej sposób, w jaki krakowianie budują swoje kompozycje, a także, zdecydowanie nie do przecenienia, udział klawiszy. Być może gitary nie tworzą tutaj tak hałaśliwej ściany dźwięku jak by mogły (i jak to robią na żywo), za to dzięki temu większą uwagę kupić można na klawiszach właśnie. A także na perkusji, która w kilku momentach (Perseids chociażby) wpada w prawdziwy werblowy trans dodając całości znakomitego tempa.

Chyba najciekawszym połączeniem tych wszystkich składników jest Roads z wielkim udziałem pięknych klawiszy, szalejącymi gitarami i wylewającą się wiadrami atmosferą. Debiut warty najwyższej uwagi.

The Last Cruise kosztuje 20 złotych.

Sprawdź: Roads 

Kraj: Polska

Szufladka: atmospheric post-rock

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