Review: Godspeed You! Black Emperor – G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END!

The distinguished post-rock, drone, and subtly ambient band Godspeed You! Black Emperor releases their seventh studio album after a four-year wait. They are notorious for creating the indie classic Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven along with just being the best example of “crescendo porn.” In other words, if you like a long, immersive clash of drums and resonant guitars, you probably already listened to them or you really need to now. This album G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! portrays two clear halves of the project; one half of post-rock indulgences that end with sound art and ambient to introduce in the middle to introduce the second half of more orchestral integrations into post-rock. Here is my track-by-track analysis:

Military Alphabet (five eyes all blind) – An enjoyably fuzzy intro that’s accompanied by strings I would imagine for a ballad. It seamlessly flows into the next track.

Job’s Lament – This slow but pleasurable grinding towards a post-rock crescendo is a classic Godspeed attribute that is still perfectly unique for this album’s musical theme. Eight minutes of euphoria.

First of the Last Glaciers – I can hear the progression in album flow with a heavier implementation of strings on this song. The drums sound more intentional, and the post-rock immersion is carried by well-composed riffs. This song does not waste time giving listeners what they want as they follow with a thoughtful outro that primes us for the “intermission section.”

where we break how we shine (ROCKETS FOR MARY) – An instrumental-less transition interlude at the end of the first part of the record. It sounds like someone walking in the woods with some artificial gunshots.

Fire at Static Valley – The track that splits the album into two larger parts. A great ambient piece that’s placed well amongst the post-rock tracks.

“GOVERNMENT CAME” (9980.0kHz 3617.1kHz 4521.0kHz) – A title that reminds me of radio channels during war? Seems like something that a fan would figure out in the future or would be on the instructions of the vinyl packaging. This could be pushing the political concept of the album a bit more. This track is the epitome of what I actually wanted from Yanqui U. X. O. The perfect combination of orchestral strings with a slow-burning post-rock instrumental.

Cliffs Gaze / cliffs’ gaze at empty waters’ rise / ASHES TO SEA or NEARER TO THEE – Essentially another Job’s Lament that becomes more fast-paced and sounds very Swans influenced, especially at the beginning. It is a little more exciting because of these elements.

OUR SIDE HAS TO WIN (for D.H.) – The distinct final track that Godspeed designed to be by itself. It’s a shaky slow-burner with an ambiguous wind instrument(s) accompanying the strings that finally get to shine.

Subliminally political, Godspeed created this record about everybody waiting for both the end and the beginning (of the pandemic/non-pandemic world and other applicable worlds). The entire album was written on the road but then recorded during the pandemic where their whole world had changed. Their execution was affected by their mental states as the “apocalypse pastors yelled ‘end times soon’” and “ham-radio dads talk about their dying wives… and what they’ll do with their guns when antifa comes.” G_d’s Pee AT STATE’S END! serves as a powerful self expression manifested from the political distress the occurrences of the pandemic caused or created. The radio references were the most apparently political to me, which made perfect sense as it is Godspeed’s critique of what was valued during the pandemic. “The transmission-detritus of automated militaries takes up more bandwidth now, so that a lot of frequencies are just pulses of rising white static, digital codexes announcing the status of various watching and killing machines.” The rest of their “artist statement” is linked here. If you read it, we can see the radically leftist motivation the music rested on, which is a consistency in “political theater” in the realm of art throughout history. It is nice to see such a revival in a different timeframe with different applied issues.

Favorite Tracks: Job’s Lament & “GOVERNMENT CAME” (9980.0kHz 3617.1kHz 4521.0kHz)

Least Favorites: N/A

Score: 8.9