Style: Post-rock, Post-metal (instrumental)
Recommended for fans of: Explosions in the Sky, Long Distance Calling, If These Trees Could Talk
Review by: Doug
Country: US-PA
Release date: 15 July, 2022
Dubai is a very odd sort of post-rock album. In a genre typically known for minimalist, expansive soundscapes, Oreana have created a genre fusion sound that reincorporates a more mainstream, lively hard-rock guitar sound back into the prodigal child that is post-rock. The result is an unusual blending of reverb and drone with bright, energetic guitar melodies. Even the artist’s bandcamp page seems a little uncertain where the result lands among rock’s myriad sub-genres: yes, that is a “pop punk” tag at the bottom. Despite the unique genre profile, the musical composition itself lacks substance, a lack which can’t be made up for by any amount of unconventional fusion.
The first few tracks of Dubai conspire to lure the listener into a false sense of post-rock security. The drums on “Sunday” have more of an arena-filling rock-and-roll heaviness, and the harmonies are brighter and less bittersweet in tone. But otherwise, up through “Sunflowers” the music doesn’t sound too far off what you might expect from Explosions In The Sky – stylistically speaking, at least. The reverb is in full effect, the guitar melodies are high and crystalline, and “Sunflowers” kicks in with a solid background drone in the second half. But even with all the stylistic elements in place, I feel a lack of substance and development. The composition provides no emotional through-line to help build the listening experience from start to finish and little buildup of volume and energy which I could half-jokingly call “crescendo-core.” Each track just presents a string of musical moments running from one to the next, each of them empty and uninteresting on their own and none of them working in tandem to produce the kind of continuous atmosphere and musical journey that post-rock, at its best, creates from that emptiness.
The second half of the album is where we really see the rock-fusion aspect hit full swing. The rock-and-roll drums are back for “Fujeirah,” and now the guitars get to join in on the fun with a mid-pitch distorted tone that sounds straight off a hard rock album. Somewhere in the background of all this the post-rock reverb still tries to peek through, but it can’t really be heard over the rhythm guitar chugging away like the speakers at a college party, and the two elements don’t blend together well, either. By combining this rock-and-roll energy with post-rock serenity, Oreana have smothered the best aspects of both: the higher energy is undercut by the spacey reverb but still drowns out the post-rock atmosphere without letting the audience experience and settle into it. On top of that, both aspects still fail to produce any moments that feel interesting or memorable on their own and instead settle into a parade of lackluster melodies that each overstay their welcome.
The final track, “Jumeirah,” shows just a taste of what Oreana might be able to produce with more stylistic care and focus. Echoing more of the first half of the album, the post-rock aesthetic is again at the forefront, and while the guitars won’t fully commit to joining the ethereal soundscape, where they intrude upon it they do so with a deeper and heavier tone more befitting post-metal or even sludge metal rather than hard rock. While I might still prefer to hear what the band could do if they fully embraced the soundscape, this combination at least avoids stepping on its own toes and blends properly into a cohesive sonic whole that’s greater than its parts.
Sometimes experiments just don’t quite work out. Dubai tries – and mostly succeeds – at being something new, bringing musical styles together in a way they have not often been combined before. On a technical side, Oreana and this album’s guest musicians do a capable job of playing their instruments, and I have no qualms about how the music is produced or recorded. However, the attempted blending of airy post-rock with driving hard rock – or even punk, ostensibly – doesn’t land, and instead hides those contrasting genres behind one another, drowning out the qualities that define and distinguish them.
Recommended tracks: Burj Al Arab, Jumeirah
You may also like: There’s A Light, Weal, Molecules to Minds, Transmission Zero
Final verdict: 4/10
Related links: Bandcamp | Spotify | YouTube | Instagram
Label: Independent
Oreana is:
– Jill Paslier (guitars and bass)
With guests:
– Dennis Abstiens (drums)
– Rob Evraets, Jr. (drums)
– Gabriel Oliveira (drums)
– Bryan Freymuth (guitars)
– Mark Jamelo (guitars)
– Josh Riggs (bass)
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