Warning! This reviewer is now leaving his comfort zone… It’s with great trepidation that I not only dip my toe into post-rock waters but also try to pronounce this band’s name. Iiah (‘eye-aah’, I believe) hail from Adelaide, Australia, and play what has been described as cinematic post-rock. Terra, the band’s sophomore release, follows on from their 2017 debut Distances and does not dispute that definition; its cinematic scope is vast. If you’re an avid reader of this website (or just a big fan of my reviews) you’ll know we cater for the more extreme musical tastes, predominately from the many metal genres, but occasionally something slips through the net that is extreme in a more atmospheric nature, this is one of those cases. Iiah have garnered significant attention in the post-rock scene; touring with bands such as We Lost The Sea and Mono, and it’s understandable why, they are undoubtedly perfect bedfellows.
Terra takes a considerable amount of time to get going, with the musical non-event that is ‘From Nothing’ barely registering a pulse. We’re well into ‘Eclipse’ before anything happens of any note, the introduction of guitars and some laid back drums raise it above flatlining. It gets relatively heavier towards the end, but overall the track has a hazy vibe and feels like it’s providing the score to a summer’s day. ‘Aphelion’ is poppy, a little busier and for the first time we hear the bands’ trademark ethereal vocals, consisting of the angelic pairing of Tim Day and Maggie Rutjens. At times Terra feels like the soundtrack to an arthouse romantic movie, particularly ‘Sleep’ with its guitars that fade in/out, twinkling keyboards and hushed vocals. At any moment the listener could be whisked off to an exotic beach where they can enjoy watching an impossibly attractive couple frolicking in the surf while it gently washes over them. They longingly stare at each other; playing with one another’s hair, while the camera lingers on them for an unnecessarily protracted time. I’m not entirely sure if that was the intended image…maybe that’s just me.
Just beyond the half way mark ’20.9%’ nonchalantly slinks into view, which, contrary to my initial thoughts, doesn’t refer to the chances of listening to Terra in one sitting. I jest of course, there’s a nice climactic build-up of drums and bass in addition to vibrato guitar solos, it’s pleasant and an album highlight, just a shame it’s a tad overlong. The bulk of Terra is instrumental, with vocals fleetingly making appearances in a handful of tracks, all dreamy and choir-like, but leaving the music to do most of the talking. A potential pitfall with a series of largely instrumental tracks is that musically they need to be strong and ideally, memorable, otherwise without vocals to distract the listener there’s a danger of interest levels dropping. Unfortunately, too many tracks out stay their welcome, tending to veer towards self-indulgence at times.
Terra is intended as an immersive experience, an album designed to get lost in and transport the listener to another dimension. There are no real ‘songs’ to speak of, instead a succession of expansive ambient soundscapes that bleed into one another. Personally, I found Terra tedious; very little happens over its duration and it sounds more like forgettable background music. I appreciate there is a large audience for post-rock music and some will connect with Terra and take more enjoyment from it than I did, especially fans of bands such as God is an Astronaut. If you enjoy music which allows you to slow down, relax and mentally leave this world behind, then this may be right up your astral plane. If however, you prefer something more explosive with a fire in its belly, then this will feel like a very long sixty minutes.
(4/10 James Jackson)
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