Talvihorros plays bone-dry, twanged-out post rock. I felt nothing but the greatest amount of joy listening to this deliberate slow moving beast of an album. “Descent into Delta” is a beast which only occasionally shows off its violent streak. Since those moments are rare, it is doubly gratifying knowing of the many paths they could’ve more easily taken but choose not to. Rather, they keep it tasteful, refusing to bludgeon the listener into submission. You’re surprised and thrilled for those few moments.
I’d say a good point of comparison would be Mogwai. Like that group, Talvihorros could be classified as Post Rock. Talvihorros has a certain menace to it. Unlike Mogwai though, it is considerably more ambient. Evolution occurs at an even slower pace: most of these songs meet or exceed the eight minute mark. For me, the low end is stellar on this album; on songs like “Beta” the bass nearly overwhelms me with its sheer grating texture. Other songs, like “Delta” have a smoother, more elongated sound.
Unease occurs throughout the album. In some ways there’s a certain amount of ‘doom’ metal influence. There’s a menacing yet rarely overwhelming quality to it. Development away from the initial aggression (particularly in the first half of the album) shows a spacy sound emerging out of the mire. Anxiousness fades away by the final two tracks: in fact, by the final track you can point out a viola accompanying Ben Chatwin. By that point though, the album has more than proven a debt to classical arrangements.
Despite the short running length, this covers a lot of territory. It’s a surprisingly effective album and works best right before you go to bed. Day album this is not. The term night album fits it like a glove.
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