The Appleseed Cast - Sagarmatha

7/10

The Appleseed Cast recently completed latest album, entitled Sagarmatha, which I believe is a word for Mount Everest. The album opens with the track "As The Little Things Go". It took me a few listens to understand the complexity of the song, a slow and repetitive opening eventually leads into an epic movement only to finally completed with vocals about 6 minutes in. At first listen I wasn't sure what to think of the album, and I felt a little disapointed immediately with the opening track, but it has started to grow on me.

Following is a track entitled "A Bright Light" which has a pop tune familiarity in its rhythm. The vocals in this tune, similar to the first, have a spacey ominous sound to them, and to be honest sound mumbled. The annunciation on the entire album is lacking, which is unfortunate, as some of the melodies could be much better with it. Next we have the track "The Road West", which right from the beginning sounds like a promising highlight to the album. This track progressing through an interesting build up, only to lead to what I expected would be a huge wall of sound and movement, but it tends to stay rather slow. So despite its initial promise, it certainly is not one of my favorite tracks.

Part of the problem with the album is the vocal effects used almost drown out the interesting parts of the guitar tones. In fact most of the production on the album, which is relatively constant through each song, turns what could be brilliant texturing into a mixed over-toned mess. The song "The Summer Before" is one of the better tracks on the album, however the production keeps it from its full potential. As in other Appleseed Cast albums, the ambience is a huge part of their identity, but I feel as though this album, if produced differently could have made for a great Indie Pop Rock album.

Next we hear a short piece entitled "One Reminder An Empty Room", although less than a minute long, its a great display of acoustic guitar and piano. We move from that into "Raise The Sails", which opens with a repetitive ambient beginning into a completely different feel. The opening of the song has almost no place being there. However the song then again changes its tone and feel, which just makes it seem like a bunch of ideas thrown into one track. The ending of the track tries to bring intensity to it, but again the production is lacking, and even with my volume all up, it still doesn't feel great.

"Like a Locust (Shake Hands With The Dead)" follows, and immediately emanates a very digital feel. A strong bass line, and simple drum beat in the foreground throughout contrast the extremely ambient experimental guitar tones behind it. The song then dies to nothing, as it proclaims itself as filler on the album. After this we have the track entitled "South Facing Col", which has a strong entrance after the previous track. The highlight of the track is the slower section where the piano comes in, and it gives a nice atmosphere.

The closing track on the album "An Army Of Fireflies" again leaves me wishing for the potential of it to explode, and although it has some really incredible guitar parts and segments, it doesn't live up to what I hoped for.

I think the major problem I have with this album is that it doesn't go anywhere. The production is lacking, whether or not it was intentional to capture the sound does matter to me, it just isn't great. The technicality and songwriting on each track is outstanding, but throughout the album it also seems lazy, as you never feel satisfied. Dare I say it ventures into the realm of JamBand? Nothing against those of you who may enjoy Jam Bands, but it may be the last type of music I would ever listen to, the epitome of pointless music. Perhaps I came in with high hopes and had i expected something worse I would be pleasantly surprised, but overall, not a huge fan of this album.