O'Brother - Endless Light

I have a lot of respect for bands like O’Brother. The Atlanta five-piece has stayed obsessively dedicated to throwing their listeners into an ambient and shape-shifting journey with every release. Part of my admiration derives from the group’s unique writing style and the chemistry that seethes out of their music effortlessly. Yet what makes O’Brother truly exceptional is their experimentation with soundscapes and layers. The band goes beyond setting a tone; they relentlessly carve and mold their sound, creating an unforgivingly raw and vivid atmosphere for their listeners. It’s this emphasis on the listener experience that sets them apart, and it’s refreshing to see a hardworking band like them receive the notoriety they deserve.

The group’s last two LPs, Disillusion and Garden Window, delved into their darker, sometimes more aggressive timbre. The albums did a great job of constantly bombarding and thrashing your emotions around like a ravaged grizzly. In comparison, Endless Light feels more subtle and toned down from the near-constant assault of those two records. It’s a heady mix of Vheissu-era Thrice instrumental dynamism and Muse vocal shrills and melodies. Songs on the LP often begin by lurking in the sludge and decay before eventually morphing into a heavy wave that crushes you under layers of haunting vocal harmonies and grainy guitar riffs. Tracks like “Bloodlines” and the album’s namesake, “Endless Light,” exemplify this dynamic mastery.

I definitely favor the faster paced songs driven by the rhythm section’s syncopated grooves and the guitars’ open chord arrangements. “Time is a Length of Rope” lures you in with a haunting, yet beautifully crafted ambience before violently ripping you into a more horrifying realm. Elsewhere, “Complicated End Times” is a twisted ensemble of melodic blues licks and emphatic drums that’s thick with tension and malice.

Don’t get it twisted, though. O’Brother definitely has a knack for making even the subtle parts of a song strike with power, and the duality between sludge and symphony is no better experienced than on “Burn.” Meanwhile, “Your Move” and “Black Hole” may be the most easily palatable tunes on the entire album. Both songs take a more straightforward compositional approach with less emphasis on dissonant melodies. The chorus of each song sounds like something sang in an epic anthem chant with Tanner Merritt’s harmonies providing an undeniable emotional uplift.

From a compositional standpoint, Endless Light’s closing track, “Realm of the Physical,” is its most impressive. The seven-minute song finishes the album with poise while also instilling a sense of urgency and panic. Merritt sings like a man desperately trying to halt his impending death: “There is a time and a place for a miracle / I hope this is it.” The entire track is sinister in tone and eventually evolves into a miraculous, distorted mash of guitars and drums before fading away and leaving you stranded, left only with the creeping lull of ambient noise. It’s haunting. It’s eerie. It’s beautiful. In short, it’s the ideal end to another mesmerizing work from one of Atlanta’s finest.

More Info
Web: obrothermusic.net
Bandcamp: obrother.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @OBrotherMusic
Instagram: @obrothermusic
SoundCloud: @obrother
Twitter: @obrothermusic
YouTube: @Obrothermusic