The Earth Really Isn’t a Cold Dead Place

Have you ever put on your headphones, turned off your phone, and listened to an album from beginning to end without skipping a single track? If you never have, you can stop reading right now; this isn’t the album for you. However if you have done this, continue reading about one of the best albums I’ve ever listened to in my life.

The band is Explosions in the Sky and the album is titled The Earth is Not A Cold Dead Place. Explosions in the Sky is a post-rock band from west Texas who make all-instrumental music. If I were asked to sum up the band in only a few words, I think a fitting description would be a four-man rock orchestra. The music they create is full of swells and lulls, creating a dynamic and emotional soundscape. The melodies and harmonies build on each other and fall out in a way that is dramatic and beautiful, then calm and serene. To me, the music is much more than notes and plucked strings; it is a precise musical description of events in everyone’s life. It seems as though the music directly describes the situation set up by the title.

The first track, First Breath After Coma, the music eases in with soft guitar and builds through the entire track with a hopeful aura about it. As usual, if you look at the title of the song and close your eyes to imagine what it must be like to wake up from a coma, the music seems to follow the emotion you would imagine one would feel.

Track two happens to be a personal favorite. Titled The Only Moment We Were Alone, the song starts off much more lively than the first. The two guitar melodies played together seem to be running a similar path as they compliment each other. The drums set the first epic tones of the song as the first main verse ends. The tune then lulls and starts slowly building with soft, clean guitars and cymbals with an ascending sense of urgency. The first build then ebbs off into a new melody riff, with one guitar starting off the melody line and another coming in slowly after it. Then, a partially closed hi-hat really brings in an urgent feeling as another build begins. The builds are never rushed and are drawn out over many measures, leaving you wishing that a mighty crescendo will unfold as the band keeps you on the edge of your seats. This build continues, constantly adding more tones and volume and gives the listener sonic goosebumps. From here on out, the tune isn’t stopping to wait for you. The next lull is accented by a steady beat on the snare drum that invokes a feeling of anticipation yet again. The volume drops a bit once more before the entire band comes in on a crescendo, giving the listener what he/she has been wanting the entire time. The tune then quiets down one final time, setting up the big finale of crashing drums and wailing guitars. In my personal opinion, this could be the soundtrack for a first kiss or moments before and after a marriage proposal. The tune then dies off and fades into the next track.

Track three is titled Six Days At The Bottom Of The Ocean and is a somber tune. The swells in this song take on more of a serious and dark tone, as if one is contemplating a great problem in their life. The mood is quite a bit different from the hopeful, happy previous track; this track is far more dramatic. And following suit with conforming to the title, the song does remind me at times of being underwater.
Memorial is the title of the fourth track on this album, and if this track were to describe a feeling or emotion, it would be that of remembrance. I could hear this being part of a movie’s credit roll, as it has a tone of finality to it.
And to close out this amazing album (yes, there are only five songs,) is a tune titled Your Hand In Mine. If you have a keen ear, you might recognize this song as the theme song for the movie Friday Night Lights. Again, the tune starts slow with two guitars complimenting each other as the tone builds. I once described this tune to a friend “it sounds like how being in love feels.” There is such a righteousness to the music. It possesses a certain feeling of seriousness; you could call it a solemn sense of joy. When I hear this song, it always makes me think of a very amazing day with a special someone in my life. The kind of happiness that is less related to giggling silliness, and more related to a deeper sense of purpose and joy. I am truly in love with this song.
Again I have to say that this is one of my all time favorite albums. However, if someone has a short attention span with music, this may not be the best album or band for you. There are no words or lyrics, and if you can’t disconnect yourself from the world to focus on a piece of music, you aren’t likely to enjoy this as much. On the other hand, if you are capable of truly listening to an album and giving it your full attention, this album can deeply affect you on an emotional level and leave you dying to hear more.

If you are a fan of this band and album, I would recommend the bands Hammock, Mogwai, and Mono (Japan) to you as well; they all share many of the same epic qualities in the music they create as Explosions in the Sky does. I hope you found this review helpful, and I hope you were as touched by the music as I was.