Writing about instrumental post-rock can be difficult without an ‘in.’ On one hand, it’s easy to get lost in the compositions, only coming up for air when something within it changes. On the other hand, music can be easy to follow when there’s a guiding hand that helps you know where you are within the album’s runtime, such as lyrics or a thematic throughline that leads to denouement. However, A Burial At Sea is a wonderful guide through their melancholic yet euphoric album, Close to Home, an album built on introspection and the melding of creative ideas.

When I first listened to Close to Home, I couldn’t help but feel that I was out of my depth. While I love post-metal and post-rock, most of the music I am acquainted with in the genre has lyrics, or some form of thematic vocal guide. Anything instrumental reminds me of classical music, usually set up in movements across each suite. Because of it, I wanted to approach this album the same way I would approach most classical music: with a keen, cautious ear, detached from the emotions that the music could evoke. However, A Burial At Sea is not classical music or a film soundtrack – it immediately pulled me into its embrace, fully sinking me into its warm, soothing atmosphere.

Within the controlled chaos of its compositions, A Burial At Sea is able to pull their many influences into its musical loom and create music that is self-contained within the tracks’ individual run times. While each track has something that previously preceded it, there is always something else that pulls at you, a nagging sensation. There are moments where it sounds like something straight out of Coheed and Cambria, Alcest, or the riotous rock music I listened to before getting into metal. However, there are other times where the music sounds like something I listened to only once in passing yet stuck out because of a particular sonic trait. For example, fourth track “Hy-Brasil” reminds me of Socks and Ballerinas’ “Salmon Soup,” as they have the same syncopated rhythm that runs through the track. While Socks and Ballerinas use that riff to build hilarity and create a happy song, “Hy-Brasil” uses the same rhythm in a faster tempo as the backbone for the other melodies and instruments that get added on top of that, giving this track a melancholic feel. While fuzzy and fast at times, “Hy-Brasil” also adds what sounds like trumpets and horns into the main melody, giving the music an exciting feel. It feels like the euphoria of driving down the freeway after sundown.

However, despite the post-rock label, A Burial At Sea is not afraid to get heavy. Songs like “GORSE BUSH ON FIRE” start with fuzzy yet heavy riffs that permeate throughout the entire track, creating this incredibly energetic atmosphere that makes you want to get up and dance around. Then, it sinks into this deep pool of sound that reminds me of Astronoid, where the feedback loops and it melds together with the instrumentation. The heaviness also lies in its melancholy, highlighted in “masterfred.” Unlike the previous energetic soundscapes that preceded it, “masterfred” is the closest you ever get to a “slow” song – the music is intense, but it also drags, and when you get to the end of the track, pieces of the composition peel away, until only silence is left. After “masterfred,” the music is solemn, and those trumpets and horns that were on “Hy-Brasil” take on another form – they are now a dark accompaniment to the sheer reality of solemnity and loneliness.

Close to Home is an album that oozes nostalgia and a sense of displacement. Its music pricks the sensation of memory, as if pulling the thread and allowing you to view it before the memory dulls. This album’s main pull lies in its atmosphere, where it manages to pull all these various influences into a cohesive whole. It also manages to remind of tangible things; of another, easier time. I don’t know what headspace one must be to listen to Close to Home, but here’s what I know: if you are looking for something that, in the end, gives you and reminds you that you are on solid ground, then this album is for you. Come for the post-rock, stay for the enduring hope.

— Hera

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Close To Home is available now on Pelagic Records. For more information on A Burial At Sea, please visit their official Facebook and Instagram pages.