The Seven Mile Journey - The Metamorphis Project
[Pumpkin Seed In The Sands]

Danish instrumental outfit, The Seven Mile Journey’s 2006 debut, “The Journey Studies”, was a solid affair peppered with some truly fantastic moments. The superb “Passengers Log, The Unity Fractions”, for example, was an obvious highlight with its skyscraping guitar sound and engaging arrangement.

While that record may have taken over half a decade to record, The Seven Mile Journey garnered attention for their refusal to follow common post-rock rules. Their immersive style consisted of building long, elongated passages with the rich, grandiose guitar arrangements and robust rhythms purposefully increasing the tensity of their sound to almost breaking point. But rather than detonate a crescendo of atomic distortion, as is expected of bands within this genre, this quartet preferred to display their skillful musicianship. They often opted to let their compositions drift towards tranquil endings of soft piano sonnets and dreamy heartbeat sequences. I can imagine it frustrated many a post-rock fan, expecting those climactic pay-off’s. I pitched my tent in the other camp, finding The Seven Mile Journey’s chosen path particularly satisfying.

Now the follow-up is upon us and the first thing that is noticeable about “The Metamorphis Project” is how outrageously epic it is. It barely pauses for breath as each track segues into the next, binding them together like a soundtrack with recurring themes rather than six individual compositions. The musicianship is again a joy to behold with both guitarists on distinctly top form. Throughout the album the six-string textures range from sorrowful, to aching, through to euphoric, demanding and supremely infectious. This is notable in the stunning final track “Purification - The Journey Transcriptions”, which relentlessly pummels the listener with these powerful dynamic shifts until you will have no choice but to give in. “January 4th – The Hypothesis Hours” ironically opts for the distorted crescendo route (after several minutes worth of panoramic post-rock build-up, of course), but is delivered with such a convincing force that, if played at the right volume, could probably do some damage to the super structure of your house.

The Seven Mile Journey let themselves down, though, on the tracks where they borrow heavily stylistically. Opening number “Theme for the Elthenbury Massacre”, a pensive, piano-led piece, apes the drama of Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s “09-15-00 pt1”. The chord sequence is almost identical, in fact, to the track featured on the Canadians “Yanqui U.X.O” opus. “A Sanctuary for Lugubrious Tracy”, meanwhile is the, now obligatory, lulling piano piece that creates a brief moment of respite while bridging between two longer pieces. You know what I am getting at; every instrumental rock album has one of these numbers.

“Identity Journals (Anonymous)” has similar problems. It plays host to just about everything you could ever want from an instrumental track -- Swooning guitars, a brooding tempo, melancholic chord shifts, vague hints of orchestration, dynamic staccato guitar dueling and crashing, tribalistic percussion. The problem is that it aligns itself closely with Mogwai material recorded around ten years ago. In parts it strongly recalls the Glaswegian’s monumental showpiece “Mogwai Fear Satan”, while there is a strong whiff of “Xmas Steps” (released on the “No Education (Fuck the Curfew) Ep” in 1998) too, especially in its intense, vigorous build-up. To be fair, The Seven Mile Journey try to put their own spin on such a piece and they pull it off with a reasonable degree of success. It is undeniably powerful, evocative instrumental music. The only problem being, that it has been done before and several times after that too.

Ultimately, though, the quality of The Seven Mile Journey’s musicianship, passion and sheer brilliance of their unstoppable delivery will win you over. Those suffering from post-rock burn-out, and I’m sure you are out there, should probably avoid this one. It is difficult to separate “The Metamorphis Project” from what has gone on before. But for those who cannot get enough of these epic arrangements, you need to get your hands on “The Metamorphis Project” and fast.

Track Listing:

Theme for the Elthenbury Massacre
The Catharsis Session
Identity Journals (anonymous)
January 4th - The Hypothesis Hours
A Sanctuary for Lugubrious Tracy
Purification - The Journey Transcriptions