KILLBODY TUNING
'Hello! Welcome, So Far...' is Swiss band Killbody Tuning's fourth album and the successor to 2012's '47°0'40.00"N / 6°42'20.00"E' (rolls off the tongue nice and easy that one!). With their third offering effectively extended from a short film ('Dernière Chasse') they scored for fellow countryman Julien Humbert-Droz, this new one is free from filmic roots and, apparently, took a year to compose and arrange. Then, in April this year, they took to the studio to record the entire thing live. I can quite confidently say that this was a wise move as they've managed to capture so much raw emotion through the execution of their material.
Purely instrumental, sublime melodies seep their way through the music's slickly layered textures and, as such, Killbody Tuning are in no immediate rush to bombard your senses with their emotionally-clad compositions. Rather, the album's tracks evolve, develop and progress in their own sonically mesmeric ways. And be that in a heavy, ambient, or ambi-heavy context, the overriding affect is one of pure hypnotic revery. If the true essence of music (and one could argue of any art form) is a sincere expression of the creator's emotional being, then Killbody Tuning have emphatically succeeded in such.
Whereas '47°0'40.00"N / 6°42'20.00"E' featured Valérie Leimgruber's beautiful vocals on a couple of tracks, Killbody Tuning's fourth full-length is instrumental in its entirety. However, do not let that put you off if instrumental albums are usually not your thing. The human voice is but one instrument within the context of a band, and these Swiss guys manage to express themselves in so many disparately engaging and affective ways through their instrumentations that the vocal-absence is not even noticeable. In short, if absorbing post-rock progressions with an occasional shoegaze-esque dynamic, mixed up with bursts of metal heaviness, sounds like your bag, then 'Hello! Welcome, So Far...' is essential listening. Amazing stuff.
Purely instrumental, sublime melodies seep their way through the music's slickly layered textures and, as such, Killbody Tuning are in no immediate rush to bombard your senses with their emotionally-clad compositions. Rather, the album's tracks evolve, develop and progress in their own sonically mesmeric ways. And be that in a heavy, ambient, or ambi-heavy context, the overriding affect is one of pure hypnotic revery. If the true essence of music (and one could argue of any art form) is a sincere expression of the creator's emotional being, then Killbody Tuning have emphatically succeeded in such.
Whereas '47°0'40.00"N / 6°42'20.00"E' featured Valérie Leimgruber's beautiful vocals on a couple of tracks, Killbody Tuning's fourth full-length is instrumental in its entirety. However, do not let that put you off if instrumental albums are usually not your thing. The human voice is but one instrument within the context of a band, and these Swiss guys manage to express themselves in so many disparately engaging and affective ways through their instrumentations that the vocal-absence is not even noticeable. In short, if absorbing post-rock progressions with an occasional shoegaze-esque dynamic, mixed up with bursts of metal heaviness, sounds like your bag, then 'Hello! Welcome, So Far...' is essential listening. Amazing stuff.
LABEL:
FORMAT:
Hummus Records
Album
HELLO! WELCOME, SO FAR...
Review by Mark Holmes
RUNNING TIME:
38:38
RELEASE DATE:
24th Oct 2014
TRACK LISTING
1) Hello! Welcome, So Far... (Part 1)
2) Hello! Welcome, So Far... (Part 2)
3) This Life Could Be the Last
4) Green is the New Red
5) Italian Football Legend
6) Power Out...
7) ...Farewell
2) Hello! Welcome, So Far... (Part 2)
3) This Life Could Be the Last
4) Green is the New Red
5) Italian Football Legend
6) Power Out...
7) ...Farewell
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:
Switzerland
"If the true essence of music (and one could argue of any art form) is a sincere expression of the creator's emotional being, then Killbody Tuning have emphatically succeeded in such."
