G_Ds Pee at States End!

Godspeed You! Black Emperor wrote the majority of their seventh studio full-length while touring, then recorded it in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, masked and socially distanced. Like 2012s Allelujah! Dont Bend Ascend, G_ds Pee AT STATES END! consists of two 20-minute suites as well as two drone-heavy six-minute pieces. Both of the suites open with grainy, distorted transmissions captured through shortwave receivers, and as the band explains, the preachers that once warned of an impending apocalypse now insisted that these are the end times, and military-related broadcasts spanned the rest of the dial. The opening suite builds up to one of the groups trademark crescendos, beginning with jarring, distorted melodies and scratchy guitar riffs before rising up in a joyous, determined procession. Just as it seems like its about to spin out of control, the band regain focus and add strings that shift it closer to a vaguely country-ish lament, then end the suite with the sounds of distant explosions. The requiem-like Fire at Static Valley is the albums bleakest, most sorrowful moment, with heavy gales of strings swarming over a funereal pounding drum. On the second suite, wayward drums and haunting strings tumble like a ship rocking from side to side, then the group locks into a steady, churning rhythm, slowly getting heavier and hotter until it all seems engulfed in smoke. But then the rousing final section is unexpectedly cheerful, and easily the most ecstatically triumphant music GY!BE have ever made, soaring upward and ending with the loud, victorious clanging of bells. The decaying final piece is called OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN, underlining the premise of the album, and indeed the groups entire body of work. There is still beauty and hope in this world, and it is absolutely imperative to keep fighting, at all costs. ~ Paul Simpson