Review
Moving Mountains
Foreword

Moving Mountains' Foreword may only be a four-song EP but they bring everything to the table and showcase their full abilities on this brief piece of music. Foreword is roughly thirty-six minutes, which seems to be the perfect length for an album like this, not terribly short but it doesn't drone on too long to the point where it's dull. An EP is usually meant as a "preview " to an album rather than the "main event," but in this case it's definitely not as Foreword is an absolute behemoth, and a beautiful one might I add. Oxymoron, much?

Moving Mountains certainly have a very intriguing sound. The core of it is based on atmospheric post-rock (ala Explosions In The Sky), with emotional vocals, a few screams and pop tendencies. The guitar-tone of Gregory Dunn and Frank Graniero is what really makes this band's sound so stunning. Just take the title track for example, it begins with a tranquil build-up and then erupts once the vocals kick in and it reaches it's climax. The first five minutes of this song are just breathtaking, the next four minutes of this song quietly lead into the next track "With One's Heart In One's Mout." With this track, they use a similar formula as the previous one, only the sound is a little more uptempo, for lack of a better word. The climax of this song occurs around the three minute mark where Graniero contributes powerful screamed vocals which perfectly compliment the more aggressive nature of this song.

"Armslength" is the shortest song on the EP (at 7:12, so it's not really a short song at all) begins differently as lightly picked acoustic strings and more crooning vocals are used, with the main point of this song coming when the rest of the instruments kick in, the crashing of the cymbals in the background make a nice effect, too. The final track, "Lights & Shapes" is the fastest song on here and it is a rush of energy, emotion and arguably the best track on here. The vocal performance by Dunn and Graniero is fantastic as they trade off lead and backup duties tremendously. There also is no real build-up to begin this song either as it starts right off the bat, however, it's main climax comes around the six minute mark with the crescendo of violins, guitars and cymbal crashes.

The production of Foreword is what really makes it shine, as all the instruments sound nearly perfect and they make the main moments in Moving Mountains' songs sound even more epic. How Graniero & Dunn's voices soar past all the other instruments on "Foreword" is what really catches your attention and makes that track what it is. While the vocal spots on on this EP are used very sparingly, they are done extremely well. The aforementioned screamed vocals in "With One's Heart In One's Mouth" is another highlight along with the duo's performance on "Lights & Shapes." The other members of the band also make great contributions to Foreword as well. Drummer Nicholas Pizzolato's presence is felt many times, as he creates a lot of these build-up moments found on the EP with his drumming. Bassist Mitchell Lee also has a few moments in the sun with his playing, mostly on "Lights & Shapes." It's apparent that Dunn and Graniero are the stars of the show here with their fantastic guitar playing and vocal contributions, but the band as a whole creates this work of art.

One downside to Foreword is that after the songs reach the climax, the songs tend to get a little repetitive after that, granted they are mostly an instrumental band and a lot of bands in the post-rock genre have a tendency to do that, as well. It's kind of like when you reach the best part of something and then it's over and you have to wait for it to come up again. What's also interesting is how Moving Mountains use a similar song structure for all four tracks but they manage to make all of them sound epic and breathtaking. Thirty-six minutes seems to be the perfect length for this EP as Moving Mountains continue to progress forward and set the bar high for their next full-length whenever it may be released.