Album Review: Caspian - Waking Season

Today's "Album Review" will be dedicated on a band I had the pleasure of seeing live a few months ago. Hands down, one of the most mind-blowing post-rock concerts I've seen – Caspian. I've played their album "Waking Season" countless times during my long Autumn travels and adventures the past few months and it's just never enough.

The record was released in September 2012 and unlike their previous albums, the post-rockers from Massachusetts trusted the producer Matt Bayles (ex- Minus the Bear). The artwork, which I enjoy quite a lot is made by one of the band's members - Philip Jamieson. A quick heads up - listening to post-rock without solid sound system or a decent pair of headphones is... well I find it pointless. Anyway! Ready to dive in a nearly 60 minutes of powerful guitar chords, superb dynamics, intense climax builds and relaxing atmosphere backed up by a decent amount of guitar effects? Boy, that was a long sentence.

The first track starts with a minor-sounding (if there's such word) melody ...a slight hint of sadness  if I can be precise. Then a guitar comes along. Quietly at first, it picks up and prevails over the mellow ambient. But this is not an ordinary guitar sound. The following chords make me feel powerful, excited and positive. Who said post rock is sad? The snare comes in and I feel a rush of adrenaline through my body with the progression of the song. And then the song cuts off, which is the one thing I somehow don't enjoy about the flow of the songs. It just feels weird. However, I won't go into details about all of the tracks, but I feel I should say I find the album quite uplifting.

Some bands channel all the right vibes and these guys are such band. They use a lot of pre-programmed samples which I think enriches the general sound of the album. I love Philip's first attempt to introduce singing in the "Gone in Bloom and Bough" track which is one of my favorites on the album. In general, the songs I dig the most are "Porcellous", "Halls of Summer" and "Long the Desert Mile" but then again that's just me.

I guess you won't be shocked if at the end I just say that the album is simply mind-blowing. I consider it as a perfect example of what post-rock really is and I believe it would be enjoyed by non-post-rock fans. Did the review sparkle your curiosity? If yes, give the record a spin and enjoy.