MilanKu

Pris à la Gorge (2012)

Brian Shultz

On Pris à la Gorge, Quebecois act MilanKu craft extremely solid post-metal-type post-rock, with a couple moments during this nearly hour-long affair that elevate them from just "bon" to "très bon."

Maybe it's a little ignorant or xenophobic to say, but these guys remind me of a heavier Envy, because they're essentially shouting a foreign language (to me) over a dark downbeat (with some occasional spoken-word, like on "La Nausée"). It's nonetheless awesome at times. Opener "La Chute" is a great example summing up what the band does so well: roll along at a slower tempo with moody, atmospheric rhythms that give way into harsh, growled, crushing juggernauts that warrant comparisons to Envy's sorta contemporaries Isis or Cult of Luna.

This is the type of album where one's interest might slip away during some of the more restrained, building sections, but there are those aforementioned junctures that reel you back in hard. It's also sort of same-y (the acoustic and piano brushes on the album's shortest song, closer "Antigone," are a refreshing touch), but some times are more beautiful than others: Probably my favorite song here, "Inhibition" begins with this guitar interplay where the tone is basically perfect, and near the end when the harsh, slightly distorted yells come in while one of the guitar tracks drops out–I have no other way to describe it but "cool as fuck." It's a pick-me-up transition for sure, something that's needed more when the almost too-subtle dynamics of something like "Hypomanic" saunter through.

Still, this is an impressive long-player overall. If you like this style, it's hard to go wrong checking out MilanKu's offering here.

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Pris à la Gorge