Album Review: Final Days Society - Ours Is Not A Caravan Of Despair

Upon the dawning of the first sounds of Ours Is Not A Caravan Of Despair, I immediately made connections with a Sigur Ròs-esque, atmospheric sound, and I have to say that it doesn’t disappoint. Swedish project Final Days Society utilizes the tools and sounds given to them by big names in post-rock, and creates something just as beautiful and meaningful as any record that Jonsi or The Album Leaf ever made. The first mature release since Noise Passes, Silence Remains in 2008, the new album is a clever blend of ambient, shoegaze, and traditional post-rock (or what can be considered traditional in the genre) to create something unique and impactful.

The first song, “60” sounds almost like it was pulled right off of Ágætis byrjun. It has a welcoming, mellow introduction, with vocals reminding us of our favorite Icelandic post-rocker. However, the song itself ends up in a different direction than anything Sigur Ròs has written – it takes the modern, lethargic, powerful buildup and fuses that with the hope and spirit that the band has mastered so very well, creating a fantastically complex and beautiful piece that brought me to tears.

The sixth song off the record, “Aeons”, is pretty aptly named, carrying with it an ethereal air, with vocalist Suwat Khanh’s occasional additions to the song soaring beautifully over the tumbling multitude of sound, shaping itself like a constant switchboard, blending from loud to soft, and ever swapping. After a slowly progressing intermezzo, the song starts to build steam again, reinforcing and adding in synth and guitar, auxiliary percussion and vocals again to build up to an abrupt yet powerful release.

I personally don’t think this album was hyped up enough. There were so many hard-hitting releases, like the new Explosions album, that Ours Is Not A Caravan Of Despair was essentially covered up. However, this release should be a must-get right afterwards. The organization of this album is phenomenal, and the musical chemistry these four guys have is astonishing – they can accomplish just about anything, and I’m very interested to see how much Final Days Society will take off from here.

You can pick up the release on Amazon here and steam some tracks on MySpace here.

Track Listing:

1) 60
2) In This Darkness We Disappear
3) Swans
4) To Calm Sea
5) Theory Of Everything
6) Aeons
7) ...Beauty