The Besnard Lakes - A Coliseum Complex Museum


The Besnard Lakes
A Coliseum Complex Museum
2016
Spotify

Soaring guitars, epic scale and tight production have always been a hallmark of The Besnard Lakes. Almost entirely a studio band this fifth album A Coliseum Complex Museum doesn't push the envelope more just keeps doing what the band is so good at. There is layer upon layer of guitar tracks here, each creating a harmony with the other and just some thrown in distortion for good measure. If you recognize a Beach Boys a la Brian Wilson or Pink Floyd vibe you would be dead on. The Besnard Lakes like Brian Wilson use the studio as a tool to create music rather than just relying on it to record. It makes for exquisitely complex sounds and textures, but often lacks that real connection that a voice or an instrument can create. For some reason bands like this always tend to lean towards the psychedelic and A Coliseum Complex Museum is no exception with it's ethereal fractal quality. There is a heavy influence from the occult on this record with track titles like "The Bray Road Beast", "The Plain Moon" and "Necronomicon" all bringing that sense that there is something beneath it all, something ancient that is still lurking.

The album does take a turn in it'se second half as the female vocal becomes more of a focal point and brings about a lighter quality to the sound. There are times however when the sound can become so dense that it get's muddled and making any sense of what is going on becomes difficult. Also the band has a tendency to same the same on many tracks simply because of the nature the music they are creating. If there was less of one thing anywhere it would not produce what they wanted, but with all of it combined it is hard to differentiate. The final track on the album "Tungsten 4: The Refugee" is an all out classic rock guitar blitz which bombards you for six minutes with varying degrees of success. The thing that you really miss on this record is the experience of the expanse. You are waiting for the group to take you into outer space and float among the stars but that moment never really comes, you just sort of hover around the upper atmosphere. There is never that blow me away moment on A Coliseum Complex Museum, but still the production and skill is undeniable.

6.8 out of 10

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