post war stories - cold wars

Post War Stories

Cold Wars
self-released; 2013

3.7 out of 5

By Matt Jensen

Post War Stories is a band that works with extremes. On their recent four-song EP entitled Cold Wars they have moments of hushed stillness that may remind you of a band like XX and at other times they put everything they’ve got into the moment and sound more like Mastadon or ISIS. Whether there are cymbals crashing or guitars that are barely being picked the one thing they have in common is the dark, ominous tone that is apparent throughout. Cold Wars is rooted in darkness but borrows its nuances from genres like post-rock, progressive metal, shoegaze and a couple of others.

The first song “Darkstar” is the most restrained song on the EP but also one of the highlights. The guitars create a  spacious atmosphere as they go from clean sounding to having the perfect amount for a reverb for a post rock sound. The bass isn't too fancy but creates a nice low end contrasting the drums that have a healthy dose of reverb on them as well. The vocals work with the music as they are restrained themselves with dark tones and shades of grey. The darkness that loomed in the first song comes out with no hesitation on “Battles.” Within the first moments the distorted guitar are ablaze with the drums and bass. They quickly take it down a couple of notches sounding a bit influenced by A Perfect Circle during the verse. This doesn't last long as they amp the intensity back up to ten. 

“Ghosts” contains some shredding guitars riffs along with the best bass lines on the album. The guitars amass to a blanket of white noise that overflows the senses. Not bad. They pull it all together for the last song “Shame,” which brings together a lot of the cross-pollination they were experimenting with. On top of that it’s also the most dynamic song on the album. They reach intense highs as well as parts that don't seem like too much above a whisper.

Cold Wars has some bumps along the road but does create a cohesive experience that is worth checking out.

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