Album Review: God Is An Astronaut - Ghost Tapes #10

While many of their fellow so-called post-rock peers have either imploded or disappeared up their own back passages, Wicklow four-piece God Is An Astronaut have only grown more, well, god-like with each new release.

It is hard to compute, but they are now nearly 20 years into their career. But far from dimming, the fire is stronger now than ever: as composers and instrumentalists, GIAA continue to break new ground and set fresh benchmarks with the molar-bothering, frighteningly good Ghost Tapes #10.

And it really is frighteningly good. An expansive, often explosive opus (check ‘Adrift’ if you need the hard evidence) their tenth full length album more than hints at the sheer joy of their cranium-cracking live show. It also, just possibly, might serve as a suitably epic score to the impending end of days. Or am I being too dark?

Maybe not, when you consider that ‘Burial’ is a standout. To these ears, some of the guitar tones owe a debt to the rabid second wave of black metal, but guitar maestro Torsten Kinsella may have dipped in an entirely different well to find them. Meanwhile, the pleasingly punchy ‘In Flux’ – there’s an ambiguity there, when you think about it – feels like an instant pit anthem. Elsewhere, the hypnotic ‘Barren Trees’ is another soul-searing highlight.

Potent and pensive, by turn, the band flex their considerable musical muscles throughout while flirting with vocals that add further grandeur. All told, Ghost Tapes #10 re-affirms that God Is An Astronaut are at the peak of their powers.

Ghost Tapes #10 is available to buy on Bandcamp now: