In the arena of instrumental post-rock, possibly the most difficult aspect to purvey is emotion – without any vocals, it may be difficult to find the hook for the listener to become engaged with your music; if it doesn’t make you feel anything, it’s little more than pretty guitars in an ocean of delay pedals. Fortunately, ‘The Amarinthine Sea’, the second album from Charlotte, NC’s …Of Sinking Ships experiences no such issues, as its lush, cinematic soundscapes are tantamount to a miniature odyssey, and reflects the ever-changing nature of the sea, as nodded to in the record’s title. Only the most eagle-eyed post-hardcore veterans amongst you will recall the name of …OSS lead guitarist Chad Waldrup from his days in Hopesfall (a band that seemed to have more members than some have had hot dinners), but the ambitious approach of that band seems to have translated into his new guise, assisted by drummer Tim Cossor (formerly of Circa Survive soundalikes HRVRD) and bassist Ethan Ricks.
As a scene-setter, opener ‘It’s Easier With No Destination’ works perfectly, with a shimmering guitar line weaving through ethereal textures; however, despite brief spells of appetite-whetting in its early stages, the record doesn’t really get going until sixth track ‘Suddenly No More Brilliant Lights In Our Sky’. While ‘Shifting Only With The Winds’ and ‘Comforted By Predictable Current and Tide’ are perfectly serviceable examples of genre tropes, the aforementioned channels the more dramatic elements this genre can portray, along the lines of ‘Friday Night Lights OST’ era Explosions In The Sky. This is followed by the album’s centrepiece and finest offering yet, ‘And Then Your Squall Is Upon Me’ (it’s a post-rock album, of course the song titles are long and pretentious) – while this song is centered around a simple four-note riff, the surrounding tumultuous dynamics ensure that the record reels one right back in at the halfway stage.
The second half begins in fine fettle, with ‘Colliding On Rocks I Knew Not Existed’ getting the “slow build into monumental riffing” aspect of this genre absolutely spot-on. The album takes a contemplative turn with the mournful and melancholic ‘Now Only The Depths I See’, and from the funereal atmospherics of ‘As I Surface, With New Revelation Emblazoned’, a coruscating riff strikes up, eventually morphing into a triumphant coda. However, at this point the fatigue of a fourteen track album starts to set in – ‘Breathing Anew’ is at least 3 minutes too long, and though the bright ‘I Set Sail In Winds Of Renewal’ does give a new lease of life to proceedings, finale ‘For The Isle Of Reverie’ limps over the line – though it’s a nice touch to repeat the guitar line from the first track creating a cylical feel, there’s no real pay-off for those that have stuck with the record throughout its span, clocking in just over the hour mark.
While the storytelling aspects of this album do provide emotional investment, it falls into too many pitfalls that bands of this nature do – a lack of restraint and overindulgence leads to an overlong record with truly memorable passages few and far between. However, if you’re willing to look past its foibles and its cliches, there is some fantastic material here, especially in the group of tracks after the midpoint, the album’s most consistent vein of form. …Of Sinking Ships (not to be confused with the Seattle melodic hardcore band of a similar name) may be a little adrift like flotsam and jetsam occasionally on ‘The Amarinthine Sea’, but if they can produce something that makes best use of their core talents, there’s certainly no need to send out an S.O.S. call.
3.5/5
‘The Amarinthine Sea’ by …Of Sinking Ships is out now on Broken Circles Records.
…Of Sinking Ships links: Facebook
Words by Ollie Connors (@olliexcore)
