EP Review: A Light Within - re:preface
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
Kanas City-based post-rock collective, A Light Within have returned to their 2013 debut EP, Preface - an aggressive fusion of the raw and the progressive – to reworked and enhanced it, and to represent it as re:preface, an update and enhancement, using modern production techniques to bring it more in line with their contemporary sound.
Opening with the low buzz of a solitary note and crackling static, Page #32 (Morning) begins re:preface’s organic growth as a collection of music. Progressive and post rock, Kyle Brandt’s vocals search for meaning, sometimes sounding like Vincent Cavanagh, other times like Maynard James Keenan. His keys are given a platform upon which to stand by Nick Sloan’s drums and the bass of Brett Southard, both set quite high in the mix and vying with the guitars for supremacy.
Both Page #32 (Morning) and the following Page #18 (Grin) capture the band’s progressive post rock sound of vastness and space, through the lush guitars of Jeff Irvine and Josh Bennett. (Grin), with its windswept opening salvos and news report narration of an impending heatwave, find the strings taking on a watery feel, shimming like a lake reflecting the sun’s rays.
There are moments within these two tracks, but mostly in (Morning) that some of the musical motifs are reminiscent of latter-era Marillion, the way the keys and guitar play off against each other reminds one of Rothery and Kelly. There’s something apocalyptic here too, lurking beneath the surface, despite the upbeat nature, evidenced by the inexorable ticking of a clock.
The rich post rock sound starts to become a little aggressive as (Grin) winds its way to a climax, taking on a more post metal chug, as a sample from HAL9000’s dying words from 2001: A Space Odyssey brings the curtain down.
The disc’s final track, Page #66 (Sixes), picks up the Sci-Fi theme and launches us onto a cosmically driven post metal stomp. Fat rhythms and aggressive vocals accompany razor-sharp, slicing riffs, that alternate between the doomy and the spacey without ever losing their uncompromising heaviness. Brett’s bass is revelled in all its monumental scale and grandeur as (Sixes) comes to a finale of reverb.
All three tracks sound clean and sharp, even (Sixes)’ weight benefits from the make-over. If this endeavour is intended to fill the space before the new record, Reconstruction, is released then it certainly whets the appetite for that platter.
