Albums to watch

Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

Asunder, Sweet And Other Distress

Album number five from the Montreal post-rock titans and shortest since their 1997 debut

ADM rating[?]

7.9

Label
Constellation
UK Release date
30/03/2015
US Release date
31/03/2015
  1. 9.3 |   Paste Magazine

    A true piece of art
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  2. 9.1 |   A.V. Club

    Though it calls back to many of the strengths of early GY!BE albums, it also highlights an evolution of intent
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  3. 9.0 |   Drowned In Sound

    Asunder, Sweet is Godspeed at their most conciliatory, most bloody-minded and most untouchable
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  4. 9.0 |   The Quietus

    Pure distilled, 200 proof revolutionary instrumental rock
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  5. 9.0 |   PopMatters

    No vocal samples or field recordings were harmed in the making of this song, or any part of Asunder, for that matter
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  6. 9.0 |   musicOMH

    An album that hits hard and serves as a startling call to arms
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  7. 8.0 |   The Skinny

    Slim but huge, and tests the GYBE aesthetic with courageous enterprise
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  8. 8.0 |   Mojo

    Forty minutes of wordless shape-shifting spread across four sprawling tracks. Print edition only

  9. 8.0 |   No Ripcord

    In parts on Asunder… they've truly perfected their sound, and there’s not many bands that that can be said abou
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  10. 8.0 |   NME

    Their vision remains a bleak one - but it makes resistance sound holy, and love sound like a revolutionary act
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  11. 8.0 |   Uncut

    Once again, the bands consistency is ultimately an asset rather than a curse. Print edition only

  12. 8.0 |   Under The Radar

    Put simply, Godspeed rock the fuck out while still sounding like Godspeed
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  13. 8.0 |   The Music

    While the length, a neat 40 minutes, may leave some fans wanting more, the album stands alone as one wonderful piece of experimental, droning and beautiful music
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  14. 8.0 |   Exclaim

    This is a beautiful, concise blast that conveys this band's musical essence
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  15. 8.0 |   Spin

    Godspeed You! Black Emperor have created another incredible work and one that finds them again evading the confines of formula — even if it happens to be their own
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  16. 8.0 |   Sputnik Music (staff)

    It’s post-apocalyptic, and it’s a gorgeous awakening for a band that continues to define the standard within its genre
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  17. 8.0 |   NOW

    It requires some patience, but it's worth sitting through the less immediately gratifying moments for the final section's payoff
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  18. 8.0 |   The Guardian

    Asunder, Sweet begins in devastation and lament, takes time to plot, then surges with a single purpose: it is resolute and defiant, much like the players themselves
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  19. 8.0 |   The Observer

    Ranks among their most immediate
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  20. 8.0 |   The FT

    A gripping, perfectly paced exercise in apocalyptic post-rock, ending with a rapturous guitar, strings and drum finale
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  21. 7.6 |   Pitchfork

    As a listener, to give yourself over to this kind of soaring music, allowing yourself to be carried away, implies a certain amount of trust
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  22. 7.5 |   Consequence Of Sound

    Asunder is polemical in its trudge, drawing out notes the way a politician pauses between words to emphasize their meaning. As with 2012’s Allelujah! Don’t Bend! Ascend!, Godspeed pulls it off
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  23. 7.0 |   All Music

    At just over 40 minutes, this is the band's first single album release since their 1998 debut F# A# (Infinity). It is also their first ever without the use of sampled or field-recorded voices
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  24. 6.0 |   The Line Of Best Fit

    Asunder, Sweet and Other Distress’ is good enough, by post-rock standards. But it really falls short of the bar that GY!BE set themselves before they took a break from the game
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  25. 6.0 |   State

    This is the unadorned sound of GY!BE. Just the musicians and the noise they make. At once simple and absorbing, subtle and loud
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  26. 6.0 |   Tiny Mix Tapes

    As the music bangs on, as it must, Assunder’s biggest demand is maybe its most predictable and most important: Hope
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