If you haven't gotten this album yet, what are you waiting for!!! ???
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http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_14045
4.5 out of 5
superb by JordanS (12 Reviews)
2007-10-30 | 38 comments | 1674 views
Summary: Different, unexpected, and rather brilliant.
By The End of Tonight
Despite all this raving over Tera Melos, it would be a crime to overlook the By The End of Tonight half of the split, a move that only a lazy jackass could be capable of. The band is sort of….well…very similar to Tera Melos. They have the same ultra technical Math Rock sound, however without all the Indie and Electronic influence. They are also a bit more composed, a bit less convoluted, and their material found on Complex Full of Phantoms is as majestic as their counterpart.
On to the actual music, By The End of Tonight have departed a fair bit from the sound that they had established on previous records. In A Letter to the Sandbox sounded a bit too much like a Tera Melos clone, and at times was too chaotic for it's own good. It was an early record that established the basis for their sound, however suffered from some tasteless over indulgence as well as poor production. Their Tribute To Tigers EP was a healthy evolution for the group, and toned down the messiness of their earlier recordings, also succeeding in incorporating slower sections in a very tasteful manner. The EP was a great effort, and until this release served as their crowning achievement. Thankfully, with Complex the band has managed to push their sound forward once again. However, in doing so, they have ditched a lot of their more spontaneous and scattered sound. Don't take that the wrong way, time signatures still go out the window at the hands of ridiculous drumming and mathematic guitar, but the songs don't go on the same sort of adventures that their previous work did. There is no Setting Sail In April to be found here, with it's gorgeous clean picked passages. This is very much stripped down(which is almost a contradiction), and the songs are much more coherent and structured than on their last releases. Not structured in the sense of musical composition, but structured in their general sound.
However, this has actually worked to the bands favor, because By The End of Tonight have never sounded better. The production is just superb, and the guitar tones, bass presence, and drum mic'ing are perfect. Every instrument is where it should be, and it makes the band sound perfect together. Speaking of perfection, the songs are all performed with expert precision, and BTEOT has never sounded this tight. The drumming is just off the wall, and the whole band work sin unison like a refined machine to create some very, very original music.
BTEOT's half of Complex of Phantoms is truly a trip. The album title really seems perfect for it, as the whole thing has an ethereal feel to it. The band shifts in and out of complex mathy passages and drawn out atmospherics. This juxtaposition is extremely effective, as there is no happy medium. They are either thrashing their instruments at 1,000 miles an hour or are tremolo picking a note over a wash of delayed chords. In any case, every song works to the benefit of the others(something that can't be said about the Tera Melos side), and is even more rewarding to listen to as a whole.
Of course, the band as not only progressed with it's sound, but all the members have really come into their own as songwriters. Almost every melody on Complex is beautiful, and the various polyrhythm that they employ make the music sound both original and innovative. It's beautiful in songs like Jealous Of A Ghost, around the 1:30 second mark, when the simply brilliant lead melody is carefully dodging it's way in and out of the chaotic instrumental backdrop. This is the case for many of the songs, and there are more incredible moments than I can count.
As for flaws, there aren't many to be found. Their side of the split does sound very similar throughout, and it's hard to distinguish one song from the other. Philthy Collins and Jealous Of A Ghost sound almost identical without ever really being similar in composition. And that's generally not a good sign for long term listening. Also, the track Cold Hands is a very slow point on the album. It was clearly put in their to calm the listener down, and provide a soothing experience between all the madness, but three and a half minutes it goes on for far too long and just gets boring. Had this been an entire CD, it wouldn't be such a problem, but there is such a limited amount of music here that it sticks out like a sore thumb. Still, these complaints are menial, and as a whole the BTEOT split just slays in terms of technicality, individuality and originality.
And that's the great thing about Complex Full of Phantoms as a whole, that it sounds original. It would be very easy for this split to become boring, due to both bands playing such a similar style, however the music never gets tedious because of how inventive each band is. What the listener is treated to is essentially one band that has reinvented themselves and is pushing their sound towards great new goals(Tera Melos), and one band that has come and out produced the best material of their careers(BTEOT). These two spectacular performances make Complex Full of Phantoms a phenomenal split, and one of the best recordings released in 2007.
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http://www.drownedinsound.com/release/view/11808
Rock music, particularly non-vocal rock music, can be at its most satisfying when it operates based on principles of instinct and force of expression. When hard-working (intelligence is not always a factor here) musical brains have the skills to manifest their ideas shooting from those principles, the result can be exhilaration and desire for repeated listens to work out just what was going on when you listened the first time. The Temporary Residence label is associated with this kind of approach to music, but very rarely will it release something that is as ill-governed by tonality and linearity as Complex Full Of Phantoms.
The two bands at work here are gloriously and heroically brief and direct in their individual assaults, but the opening statement is rightly handed to By The End Of Tonight. 'Delaware Is Depressing' is a pummelling Roman shield to the face, hermetically woven guitar lines clashing and adjoining at exactly the right harmonic corners. Percussion, too, spazzes brilliantly like an appendage should. This is not to say that because they are combining melody, rhythm and harmony together in a clever way they have no surprises reserved for the listener (speaking of which, it should be pointed out that this track is about 40 seconds in length and segues imperceptibly into the brilliantly-titled 'Philthy Collins'). The jabs of sound come in waves of nod-able riffery and equally righteous avante interjections, offset against one another efficiently and rewardingly.
But this is only half the picture, yes? The half belonging to Tera Melos is somewhat lighter, but no less fierce and complex. And it's nice to hear some singing after the instrumental onslaught of everything pre. As we hear them warble in 'Party With Tina', one should always "learn to use your discretion", and it's something that Tera Melos enjoy doing. The climax of that track features, strangely (and deftly borrowing from An Albatross), some jazzy horns and saxes that do seem indulgent – the discretion is exercised when they decide to hilariously halt everything after only a few seconds of excess.
As a whole, though, Complex Full Of Phantoms still works very well indeed. It's fortunate that both of the 'loads of loud and then a bit of quiet wiry stuff' narrative of each half doesn't put us through too much too quickly, and also that we're thrust through a medley-esque journey of musical styles in the concluding 'Last Smile For Jaron'. In short, there a lot of things that could have gone terribly wrong in this collaboration, but none of them has. Here, we celebrate inventiveness balancing with the already-established, and the tremendous value of restraint. And not for a single second is it boring.
By The End Of Tonight & Tera Melos 8 / 10