Moons Eat Stars - Voyage

Moons Eat Stars

Voyage
self-released; 2015

3.4 out of 5

By Ted Rogen

The four-piece band Zachary Williams (lead guitar), Benjamin Rundall (bass), Andrew Adams-Sierra (drums) and Ryan Vance (rhythm guitar) make up Moons Eat Stars. The post-rock band recently released Voyage, which is more or less a lesson in post-rock 101. Truth be told most of the  ideas on Voyage have already been perfected by bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Explosions in The Sky and like-minded bands but hey the world could also use some more post-rock. That being said the band does go off on some less predictable deviations here and there. 

The EP begins with “Thus You Shall Go To The Stars” which adheres to most tropes that have been established in post-rock. It starts with one solo reverb laced electric guitar that plays a sad riff that plays off the silence in the air. It doesn’t take long for drums to get into the mix and the guitars shimmer a bit more bright. From there it goes from melodic melancholy to crashing crescendos. There weren’t any surprises for anyone familiar with the genre but nonetheless it was well delivered and well performed. 

Next up is “Leaping Point” which I thought was a slight step up from the opener. The guitar especially during the beginning and middle was creative. Eventually the song goes into clear post-rock by trying to constantly topple a never-ending crescendo.

“Lost Between Nothing And Everything” is an exercise in patience and nuance as the song revolves around delay guitar that is sparsely played. It sure as heck wasn’t the most  engaging track and did feel a bit self-indulgent but at least they were experimenting. 

The oddest point on the EP was the beginning of “Through Adversity, Hope.” The first forty seconds sound like the beginning of a pop punk song. As the song progresses it sort of melds the genres. It wasn’t too shabby especially towards the mid section. The closer “End Is But The Pendant Of New Beginning” reverts to core staples of the post-rock genre. It contains a number of pretty, melancholic riffs and they try to close big with their most giant crescendo yet. 

The post-rock genre is filled with bands whose songs tend to sound interchangeable. As of right now Moons Eat Stars doesn’t have enough of a distinct sound to clearly separate them from other like-minded bands in the post-rock genre. Don’t get me wrong the band is clearly talented from a creative and technical standpoint but the x-factor that is so hard for bands in a specific, niche genre like post-rock to find isn’t quite there yet. I think Voyage is good and definitely builds a foundation for the band. If they keep digging hopefully they can find more than that.

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