Take a deep breath and hold it in tight. Geneva lifts early into its forty-six minute flight. Trudging through early storms and turbulence, the ethereal mountainsides and seascapes are illustrated precisely by the Illinois trio… Yes, trio. The atmospherics, the classical instrumentation, and the layers of beauty have, at their core, three gentlemen producing all the noise. Mike Sullivan‘s guitar hovers just above the action, bathed either in a dreamy echo or discordant wail. Dave Turncrantz drums with the power of six, accentuating every hit with another swirl of notes. Brian Cook (yeah, that Brian Cook) elevates his position from “the bassist” to “without him this would not have worked out.” All of which, when finally realizing you are on your fourth listen in a row, amounts to a more than satisfying piece of post-rock.

What is exactly is post-rock? Bands like Explosions in the Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor paved the way for a steadily rising crop of youth who wished to rewrite The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place, expanding upon and reorganizing the template Slint manifested eighteen years ago on Spiderland. Taken from the Allmusic Archives, “Post-rock was the dominant form of experimental rock during the ’90s, a loose movement that drew from greatly varied influences and nearly always combined standard rock instrumentation with electronics… Post-rock was hypnotic and often droning (especially the guitar-oriented bands), and the brighter-sounding groups were still cool and cerebral — overall, the antithesis of rock’s visceral power.” A movement begun as a reaction to the increasingly redundant world of traditional rock and roll (this was, keep in mind, following the tail-end of 80s New Wave), the same soil that brought landmark albums from the aforementioned Slint and artists like Disco Inferno became tired and boring itself. Continuing on to this day, post-rock in the post-movement either forges new ground or it slightly tweaks its ancestors. Russian Circles’ new record falls directly between the two.

At once dark, menacing, lush and hypnotic, Geneva is akin to nestling in a forbidden garden at the edge of a mountain, if only to receive stings from the bees. Opener “Fathom” sets the mood with discordant orchestration, its violins screeching atonally along with minor guitar chords to become one. The drums are powerful and driving, the bass does its job. A rather short track, its atmospherics lead into the title track. One of the harshest songs the band has written yet, it falls somewhere between EP-era Pelican and Salvation-era Cult of Luna. Palm-muted triplets evolve into brooding contemplation, while Cook runs up and steals the show. Halfway through the song, the catchiest bass line in a long time just dominates the track. You’ll know it when you hear it. “Hexed All” is a pretty little track, utilizing subtle orchestral touches, while “Malko”’s upbeat guitar tapping and numerous drum fills successfully manages to address the emotional overtones occupying the record. “Melee” is, put simply, the best song not only on Geneva, but quite possibly the best instrumental song in recent memory. The bass swells alongside violins and an acoustic guitar. Turncrantz taps frenetically on and off his drumset, ushering a shift from major odyssey into minor haven, both exciting and bitter at the same time.

Geneva is an achievement. It is the sound of a band coming into their own, mixing the best parts of what they were and allowing it to illustrate what they are. The album is consistently listenable and keeps its listeners guessing. While a little underwhelming, it is by and far one of the best records post-rock has had to offer this year. That’s saying something.

(8.5/10)