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Junius: Reports from the threshold of death
07/12/11 || The Duff
When I think about how glorious “The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist” was, I can’t help but be underwhelmed by what’s on display here – if you think about Junius’ development from a modest debut album to a follow-up that was minimally shy of perfect, something far greater than the individual performances on the record would suggest, then “Reports from the Threshold of Death” is one helluva curve-ball. The Cure-esque vocals remain, and occasionally the guitars come through with that thick wall of repeatedly strummed, single notes of blissful energies, but this album’s predecessor was replete with a density so rare to find, layers mixed so astutely; here it sounds like half the band was repeatedly on a cigarette break.
So the chief emotive qualities of this disc come from the synth which don’t sound unlike a female opera singer for the most part, otherwise creating a peaceful, warm backdrop to the vocals; the opera-style keys were situated in dribs and drabs on the last album, when the guitars weren’t swallowing the listener whole with meandering aural gold. Secondly, we have the choruses, which are resplendent with feel, I’ll admit; it’s the verses, unfortunately – if we had the musicianship of past efforts, one could still think the choruses too sweet for comfort in comparison to past efforts but at least not to the detriment of stripping the core of the sound they’ve spent this long and yet only two albums honing close to perfection.
The vocals of Joseph Martinez – whereas before his approach to melody was unusual, here we find someone tailoring his sound to fit more conventional trends. Also, less of The Cure and oddly enough more like Deftones. The Smiths? Probably if I knew of them. This has been stated as the perfect blend of such and Neurosis, which is quite ill-informed to be honest. Junius have drawn abreast bands like Mogwai and all the post-rock movement that followed; Red Sparrowes, Explosions in the Sky, Mono, This Will Destroy You and then more eclectic bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Sigur Ross and so forth if only to disguise how I’ve drained my knowledge on such. In short, not the most enthralling of post-rock visionaries, but talented none the same. Not fucking Neurosis is what I’m trying to say; not The Untouchables. Got it?
Vocally, the album is a roaring success; with the exception of “Haunts for Love” which stumbles out with cheese-deluxe and consequently half-fails to reach the epic-scale of the rest of the record, everything here soars with the sense of life that completed “The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist”, it’s simply how the record appears pretty much devoid of any other worthwhile merit for a post-rock album in the Mogwai vein. Lyrically as well there has been some misunderstanding as to what made these chaps such a breath of fresh air; “Martyrdom…” was very engaging on a lyrical front, on “Reports from the Threshold of Death” we get more of the same but without the spark, and then the rudimentary of a traditional love-album that appears to be explaining away the fear of death. I got news for you, guys, and it ain’t good.
The drumming once more is a blessing; this record is very groove-oriented, and Dana Filloon lays down both steady and rousing, hard-hit rhythms alike while maintaining a certain playful aspect. The production is quite the contradicting affair; the music’s emotional value is accentuated via the ever-increasing waves of synth and vocals that layer the album to reach breathtaking heights, but the guitars, even when playing full-on distortion, are for boost and actually sound muddled; what riffs there are seep in subtly, but part of me wonders why they even bothered with the keys and vocals so prevalent in the mix and essentially the sole driving force.
Ultimately, this is a grower, but following “The Martyrdom of a Catastrophist”, their more traditional song-structures and less awe-inspiring musical depth leaves me disappointed especially seeing as the vision strived for is very apparent – make everything so beautiful in life that we no longer fear death; no joke, some of the choruses do successfully carry such a larger-than-life, mystical weight to them. These guys still have the potential to be one of the leading post-rock bands, but I’m torn between misunderstanding this record and plain giving up on it for its sparsity.
- Information
- Released: 2011
- Label: Prosthetic Records
- Website: www.juniusmusic.com
- Band
- Joseph E. Martinez: vocals, guitars, synth
- Michael Repasch-Nieves: guitars
- Joel Munguia: bass
- Dana Filloon: drums
- Tracklist
- 01. Betray The Grave
- 02. All Shall Float
- 03. Dance On Blood
- 04. A Universe Without Stars
- 05. Haunts For Love
- 06. The Meeting Of Pasts
- 07. (Spirit Guidance)
- 08. A Reflection Of Fire
- 09. Transcend The Ghost
- 10. Eidolon & Perispirit
