Level Plane Records and Teenage Disco Bloodbath Records have partnered together as they team up two extremely underrated artists, at least in my eyes. Originally released on vinyl format last year, this split release is finally available as a CD (from what I can only assume to be the success of the vinyl version). For this offering Tides, now hailing from Massachusetts, offer up two new instrumental pieces, while Giant, from North Carolina, and unleashes one mega-track.
Tides return with their follow-up to 2006's EP release, From Silence. The quartet start things off with "The Invisible," a nine-minute track of ever climbing post-rock. The guitars lead the song from a modest opening to a bombastic finish. The duo of August Snow and Tim Fickeisen provide the song with interweaving melodies while the rhythm section of Donald Green and Robert Dowler serves a solid driving backing. Before you know it, the song has passed and you're moving on to "Unfinished Highways." Only half the length of the preceding track, "Unfinished Highways" takes to a different direction. The group ops for an acoustic track that results in a very somber mood. While it isn't outside the box to hear an instrumental band go acoustic, it was somewhat unexpected. Despite being caught off guard, I was more than pleased with the result.
Giant offer their return effort after releasing the sensational Song early last year. Their side features "Horned and Blind," a near thirteen-minute opus of guitar-centered post-metal. The five-piece outfit has created an extremely adventurous piece of music that melds together the beauty and ambience of the world of post-rock with the heaviness and coarse vocals of metal. Despite being polar opposites, the two together mark a more than enjoyable listening experience. The overall sound brings to mind the most recent work of Neurosis, but with perhaps a touch more melody and delicacy.
If you're a newcomer to either of these artists, this split should easily peak your interest in the rest of their catalogs. If you've been following them for a while now, like I have, then this is a nice holdover until the next releases, which I can only hope is full-lengths.
