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Godspeed You! Black Emperor review – urgent intimations of societal collapse
High drama unspools in thunderous waves from the Canadian cult favourites, but beauty and contemplation can be found amid the tumult
Their forthcoming album, No Title as of 13 February 2024, 28,340 Dead is a reference to the estimated death toll in Gaza at the time of the record’s completion; that they play four songs from it (two in medleys) in an eight-song set list which only once reaches back pre-reunion suggests a band intent on pushing forward, remaining present. The unruly, vaulting riff in new song Pale Spectator Takes Photographs feels like being strapped to the back of the giant sand worm in Dune; it feeds into this year’s comeback single Grey Rubble – Green Shoots, which starts in a state of staticky desolation, one abrupt, brute guitar figure sounding over and over until the spark catches and the song boulders into almost desert blues territory; Trudeau’s violin sounds particularly beautiful, as if being played through an old Victrola. As it crashes to an end, hundreds of fans spill for the exit – but Godspeed keep the droning feedback going for a good 10 minutes, creating a space for awe and contemplation that’s just as impactful as the previous, battering two hours.
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