Apse Spirit

Words: Dave Segal
Label: ATP
XLR8R Rating: /10

If you thought post-rock had run out of inspiration, this debut album will renew your faith in the maligned genre. Spirit is a gorgeous, portentous work, infused with a morose grandeur that’s devoid of corn and cloyingness. Singer/guitarist Robert Toher’s high voice sometimes recalls that of Sigur Rós’ Jonsi Birgisson, but the Connecticut-based Apse’s majestic swathes of tom-heavy, clangorous rock more often evoke Savage Republic–if they recorded for Constellation, perhaps. At once spacey and turbulent, eerie and dramatic, Spirit repeatedly makes one think that this is where Mercury Rev should’ve gone after See You on the Other Side. The aptly titled Spirit is heroic and immense, almost too large for the silver screen.