This is Post Death Soundtrack.
The playlist to your existence once you shed this mortal coil comes from Canada.
Didn’t see that one coming, did you?
It’s this command of the unexpected that makes their newest release, “The Unlearning Curve” swell with haunting, Gothic, synth driven songs that travel through seas of dark emotions.
Before one can digest the music, having a grasp of the unique process that goes into its creation will help understand the scope of what is contained within, “The Unlearning Curve”.
Post Death Soundtrack is a trio composed of Kenneth Buck, Steve Moore and Jon Ireson.
Three members, residing in three different cities (Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto), who utilize the internet, conspiring to create a stark landscape of dark beauty.
The music can be both minimalist and lush, with deep bruises and broken promises. The band employs a bare and exposed approach to song construction that lends to the hypnotic, dream-like passages which permeate the essence of “The Unlearning Curve”.
This flowing mist of atmospheric drifting can be heard in, “You can’t go back”… (with the lines, ”We all throw our hands out like serpents lashing out…‘ calling ghost-like from the ether).
In their more creative moments, nontraditional time signatures showcase the groups elevated musical abilities while challenging a listener to something their ears might not be familiar with processing, but making Post Death Soundtrack all the more interesting by effect.
Witness the waltz-like tempo of, ‘Beauty Eyes I Adore’, which utilizes a rising and falling crescendo, wrapped in warping keyboard lines.
If one needs a comparison, think Portishead, but with brooding male vocals… heard in the trance-like, ‘Arrhythmia Dreaming’.
The beautiful scar of this album is the robot stomp and manic vocals of, ‘Little Alice’, which features a menacing tone against battling vocal lines. By far, the heaviest offering on this release, building upon itself until it becomes more intimidating, ending in the industrial rock spectrum. The crunching guitar rhythms and crawling leads here are what earn the often cited Skinny Puppy comparisons.
The operatic piano of, ‘Through the Gates’, harnesses subtle changes into minor note ranges, suggesting just a hint of beautiful madness. This is where contemporary and classic combine, a tactic Post Death Soundtrack employ to their full advantage.
“The Unlearning Curve” follows up on the band’s 2008 release, “Music as Weaponry”. Due to the nature of the band and the logistics of their creative process, Post Death Soundtrack is not a ‘live act’ in the traditional sense, but have gathered for the rare live appearance.
To continue your journey into the after-life…. www.postdeathsoundtrack.com
