I probably got into post-rock like many others through Mogwai/Godspeed You! Black Emperor then Explosions in the Sky and a whole host of other bands. Which was fine, really enjoyed this type of music and my album collection just grew and grew. Trouble was most of it was sounding the same as so much of it followed the quiet/loud/quiet/loud pattern. So latterly I've stopped listening to big names in this genre and looked elsewhere for my post-rock fix such as Grails/Red Sparowes/Mono and others that are on the periphery.
I discovered Laymar about two years ago when I saw them supporting someone else and I was amazed at what they were playing. The band have grown in confidence over the last 18 months or so and I'm glad to see that they have picked up a bit of a following. If you don't know them I'd say they are an experimental instrumental band rather than a post-rock band.
The album is dark and atmoshperic but at the same time it's melodic. Whilst the tracks can be listened to as individual pieces these guitar/bass/drum/electronica instrumentals do fit together quite nicely as a whole and many reveiwers have made this very point.
I have played the album many, many times and I still hear and notice little bits that I haven't heard before. The tension and drama throughout is remarkeable and all this comes to a head with the final 19 minute long track, titled 'Swords', which is a monster piano driven heart thumping roller coaster of a ride that when it's over you either want to get back on and ride it again or you'll say - "No more, that's enough".
I can't bench mark the Laymar sound to any other bands although others do. There's not much radio friendly stuff in the album - except 'NU1' which I've heard on a few radio stations already and Stuart Maconie (BBC 6 Music)has been brave enough to play 'Juvenile Whole Life' but if you want three minutes pop songs then look elsewhere.
You can find plenty of 'official' reviews on the internet and those I've seen range fom 7 out of 10 to 9 out of 10. Please read them and then buy the album.
