Montreal’s own post-rock collective Godspeed You! Black Emperor have returned with another reflective and transcendent release. This new project bears the lengthy and politically charged title: “No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead” Godspeed makes a poignant statement regarding the current divisive conflict between Israel and Palestine, referencing the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces between October 7th, 2023, and February 13th, 2024. This comes as no surprise to those who know Godspeed, as they are known to be a highly political group even though their songs are usually only instrumentals. In the absence of words, they convey their message through the titles of songs and the music itself. 

No Title as of 13 February 2024 28,340 Dead album cover

This album, like most of their albums is best enjoyed by listening to the whole thing all at once with every song in its intended order. There are only six tracks, with tracks 1, 4, and 6 ranging between 3-6 minutes, while tracks 2, 3, and 5 are all over 10 minutes. This is typical of Godspeed as most of their past albums have had small track lists with very long runtimes on each song, for example their debut “F# A# Infinity” (1997) only contains two tracks, with the first coming in at 20 minutes with 6 movements within. Godspeed, like most other post-rock bands are defined by their use of traditionally rock sounds like effect laden guitars and drums with string instruments like violins and cellos. This instrumentation is combined with classical sensibilities in terms of composition, with more atmospheric and ambient sections that have long build ups that give way to loud and transcendent climaxes, this album is no different. 

This album feels like the soundtrack to the collapse. The sounds of modern capitalistic society in its death throes. The lead single, “BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD” begins with quiet before a fuzzy reverb laden guitar comes ripping through the mix, like some great metal behemoth calling out through the quiet of a dead world. “BROKEN SPIRES AT DEAD KAPITAL” takes a more naturalistic approach with an arrangement of stringed instruments that create an ambient feel, with quite a sinister sounding ending composed of snaking cello (most likely) and strange noises from an electric guitar that sound like vocalizations of alien beings. The outro leads in perfectly to the next track “PALE SPECTATOR THAT TAKES PHOTOGRAPHS”, whose beginning sticks with the same instrumentation but later adds in primal sounding drums and dissonant guitar noise with doomy riffage and continues on like a lumbering giant, until it picks up in the last few minutes with an upbeat drumbeat. The album closes with “GREY RUBBLE – GREEN SHOOTS”, whose last few minutes are a lilting and drear affair.  

This work bears the fear and anger found in many modern people and it does not do a whole lot to quell those concerns, which is not a bad thing. This work validates those concerns about the state of the world today, all the death, corruption, and lies, because it is not okay. Just because some politician, public intellectual, or “self-help guru” tells you to bury your head in the sand or be mad about something irrelevant, does not mean that you should. Take this with a grain of salt though, as this is solely my interpretation of what the musicians are trying to say. It is worth listening to make your own conclusions.  

This album is a very welcome addition to Godspeed’s eclectic catalogue, and it could be a nice entry point for those who may be interested in checking out the band. In terms of the wider world of post-rock and other experimental genres of music, this album is not reinventing the wheel or anything. It’s no “Spiderland” (1991) or “Laughing Stock” (1991), as it feels sort of formulaic and conventional compared to past works. Nonetheless, this is still a very good album on its own and its message is very important. I can confidently award this album an 8/10.