Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra
Kollaps Tradixionales
Rating: 2.0/5.0
Label: Constellation Records
Unlike in, say, modern politics or auto insurance, the word "progressive" has rather unfortunate connotations in the realm of rock. Or in the case of Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra (having recently slimmed their ranks to a quintet and ditched the Tra-La-La), instrumental post rock that also includes vocals. "Progressive," it is often considered, means lengthy, digressive musical passages, dense thematic ideas and general bloat. Unfortunately, for all of Mt. Zion's impressive instrumental skill, their newest release, Kollaps Tradixionales, does nothing to dispel those stereotypes. It's not Yes by any means, but it tends to be more a chore to listen to than not.
Opening with "There Is a Light," a rambling 15-plus minute collection of fuzzy guitars, distant sounding strings and crashing drums, Kollaps doesn't get to a compelling listen until close to the 10-minute mark. There are lovely melodies under the surface, occasionally popping up from murk of melodrama, but such moments are rare. It also does not particularly help that bandleader and primary vocalist Efrim Menuck (late of the sadly missed Godspeed! You Black Emperor) sings in a mushy, yet still whining tone throughout the entirety of Kollaps. There's clearly ideas going on behind all the bleating, but damned if I can decipher them; apparently the physical copy of the album contains complete lyrics, but not the review copy I received. Oh well.
But Kollaps doesn't deserve a complete slagging, and its makers certainly do not. "I Built Myself a Metal Bird" achieves a true sense of menace and paranoia with sharp, scratching strings and a heavy, almost-metal bassline. The closer "'Piphany Rambler" (also clocking in close to the 15-minute mark) brings to mind a ragged alternate world Decemberists, perhaps after some kind of musical apocalypse. And several other tracks, all titled with variations of "Traditional," take interestingly skewed takes on traditional English and European songcraft into modern places.
The concepts that anchor Kollaps simply overwhelm the musicianship and actual pleasure of the band far too often. Combined with indecipherable lyrics and running times that approach Ummagumma excesses, it's just too much with too little to understand.
by Nathan Kamal
