Godspeed You! Black Emperor are officially releasing their new album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! at midnight (4/2), but they've put it up on Bandcamp a few hours early.
When the post-rock titans made their long-awaited comeback on 2012's 'Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend!, it felt almost unbelievable that they'd not only made a new record, but that it was completely on par with the three near-flawless albums that they put out during their initial run. Some bands make a huge comeback like that and then go right back to taking it slow (see: My Bloody Valentine), but Godspeed just kept moving along as an active band, and with G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!, they've now put out more full-length albums during their second act than they did during their first. And if you're waiting for them to run out of steam, don't hold your breath. The four songs on this album -- two gargantuan 20-minute-ers and two six-ish minute ambient pieces -- are just as towering, gorgeous, unique, and powerful as anything Godspeed put out in the late '90s and early 2000s. For a band without vocals, they've got an incredibly distinct sound, and you'd know this was a Godspeed album even without looking at the artist name. That they continue to make such thrilling, moving music that sounds unmistakably like no other band is no small feat.