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A BACKWARD GLANCE ON A TRAVEL ROAD - A Backward Glance On A Travel Road (2009)
unsigned
Written by: Tanner Fisher ©
Right off the bat, I must inform all prospective listeners that this should be listened to with headphones, and all of your attention must be going towards the music. No distractions. You would be doing a disservice to hear this any other way.
A BACKWARD GLANCE ON A TRAVEL ROAD (ABGOATR), while being an extremely long acronym, is also an ambient rock band that uses many experimental elements, including flutes, various string instruments, and other bizarre, yet fitting directions to create a sound that is truly their own. Since the band is from France, there are many spoken passages exclusively in their native language. English speaking skeptics, no need to worry, because there are many English parts, and other elements, that while unique, aren’t too abstract that they will lose the listener.
This Self Titled offering includes many bright spots throughout its entirety. At around the two minute mark in the song “Johnny Got His Gun”, you start to sense something build up, and shortly after, the song kicks in with and somewhat Latin influenced crescendo that just builds and builds. The song ends with a truly creepy English monologue that will give the listener the chills (especially if using headphones, like instructed).
“Hier Régnant Désert” is an interesting song. It starts off with the audio of a man trying to talk while performing, but he is unable to because of noisy hecklers. A second man interjects, saying “Later, you can talk. Right now, let him talk”. Immediately after this the song starts, showcasing fast, aggressive drums, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, to make the part heavy, but not too heavy. The voice of the second man consistently runs in and out of the song. The song masterfully combines beautiful ambient pieces together with heavier rock elements. The use of the soft voices over top of the delicate music puts the finishing touches on this gem.
To close off the album, ABGOATR chose “Approximativement Moi”, which is 4 minutes and 41 seconds of soft string instruments with ambient gospel chants. Mysteriously, there is the sound of a single person’s footsteps for about twenty seconds towards the end. While it may initially seems like a disappointing ending, you have to realize that this band does not go about doing things in a conventional manner, so judging how this band does anything by the generic structure of things would be unfair.
ABGOATR, as you could guess, is not your run-of-the-mill rock bands. They intended on creating a different listening experience, and they succeeded, hands down. Like the best abstract art, there are parts that sometimes won’t make much sense to the average listener, but that’s just fine. There are some things that we just are supposed to get. It’s all of the confusion that makes this album stand out, and this has left me pleasantly confused.
Check out trailers from ABGOATR’s debut, and live the imagery they incorporate into their music.
((( Headbang here: http://www.myspace.com/backwardglancetravelroad )))
unsigned
Written by: Tanner Fisher ©
Right off the bat, I must inform all prospective listeners that this should be listened to with headphones, and all of your attention must be going towards the music. No distractions. You would be doing a disservice to hear this any other way.
A BACKWARD GLANCE ON A TRAVEL ROAD (ABGOATR), while being an extremely long acronym, is also an ambient rock band that uses many experimental elements, including flutes, various string instruments, and other bizarre, yet fitting directions to create a sound that is truly their own. Since the band is from France, there are many spoken passages exclusively in their native language. English speaking skeptics, no need to worry, because there are many English parts, and other elements, that while unique, aren’t too abstract that they will lose the listener.
This Self Titled offering includes many bright spots throughout its entirety. At around the two minute mark in the song “Johnny Got His Gun”, you start to sense something build up, and shortly after, the song kicks in with and somewhat Latin influenced crescendo that just builds and builds. The song ends with a truly creepy English monologue that will give the listener the chills (especially if using headphones, like instructed).
“Hier Régnant Désert” is an interesting song. It starts off with the audio of a man trying to talk while performing, but he is unable to because of noisy hecklers. A second man interjects, saying “Later, you can talk. Right now, let him talk”. Immediately after this the song starts, showcasing fast, aggressive drums, accompanied by an acoustic guitar, to make the part heavy, but not too heavy. The voice of the second man consistently runs in and out of the song. The song masterfully combines beautiful ambient pieces together with heavier rock elements. The use of the soft voices over top of the delicate music puts the finishing touches on this gem.
To close off the album, ABGOATR chose “Approximativement Moi”, which is 4 minutes and 41 seconds of soft string instruments with ambient gospel chants. Mysteriously, there is the sound of a single person’s footsteps for about twenty seconds towards the end. While it may initially seems like a disappointing ending, you have to realize that this band does not go about doing things in a conventional manner, so judging how this band does anything by the generic structure of things would be unfair.
ABGOATR, as you could guess, is not your run-of-the-mill rock bands. They intended on creating a different listening experience, and they succeeded, hands down. Like the best abstract art, there are parts that sometimes won’t make much sense to the average listener, but that’s just fine. There are some things that we just are supposed to get. It’s all of the confusion that makes this album stand out, and this has left me pleasantly confused.
Check out trailers from ABGOATR’s debut, and live the imagery they incorporate into their music.
((( Headbang here: http://www.myspace.com/backwardglancetravelroad )))
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