Transient Thoughts 019 - Ranges - Prelude

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If you told me a few weeks ago that I would be excited about a post rock release in 2021 I would have said you were crazy.  My appreciation for the genre is still there but my interest waned around 2005.  I will sometime still revisit the albums that got me into the genre, however I have not sought out anything further.

I was linked to Prelude a few days ago by a friend.  He insisted that I would like them even though I was lukewarm on the genre at the time and in many respects still am.  I gave the album a listen out of curiosity and not much more.  After my first listen I walked away not knowing if I liked it or not… so I had to listen again.  

Over the course of many years this is the best reaction I can possibly have to an album.  It means the album is challenging, yet accessible enough for me to want to dig deeper.  Oftentimes this is the reaction I’ve had to albums that work their way into my top tens for the year.  

Ranges undoubtedly play post-rock, however they do so in a way that I have not heard prior to this recording. When I first started the record up I was greeted by a a lot of instrumentation that had been reversed.  It was a cool effect, and I thought that it was an interesting and different way to do an intro.  What I was not prepared for was the fact that this reversal of guitars, drums, percussion, pretty much anything - is a core part of Ranges sound.

By incorporating both standard and reversed instrumentation Ranges have tapped into a sound that borders on experimental ambient, just executed within the confines of post-rock.  There are quiet passages, there are huge climaxes, points with high energy and low energy.  Everything about this album ebbs and flows.  

The one detracting point I have while listening to this is the drums.  I wish that they would be played just a tad lighter at points, or even just excluding the snare all together from some of the more ambient passages.  There are a few points in the album where the drums are included in a very subtle part of the music and while they fit the snare just cuts through the peace like a gunshot.  Its not very often but it takes me out of my trance every time it happens.  

The one point in the album where everything does come together and the loud drums are welcomed are right at the last track.  Everything seems like it has been building towards this moment and it finally pays off.  A fitting end to a truly excellent album.  

Ranges surprised me here.  They took a genre that I thought I had moved on and renewed my interest by incorporating heavy doses of ambient music alongside the staples of the genre.  It is a challenging listen, but it is rewarding if the time is spent.

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