Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer

The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer is Red Sparowes’ third record, the long over due follow up to 2006’s Every Red Heart Shines Toward The Red Sun. However they did a sate our appetites, somewhat, with the Aphorisms EP in 2008. But a new long player from the modern post rock soundscape masters was seemingly what the doctor ordered.
On this occasion, they’ve left out the track titles 40-odd words in length and opted for ones a little less tricky to recite. It makes recommending tracks easier, one must add. But while The Fear Is… is rife with several moments worth recommending, it doesn’t deliver as many it potentially could have.

In their previous releases Red Sparowes have always been about imagery and conjuring up wondrous aural vistas. With the aid of projections in their stage show they’ve managed this diligently. This third effort maintains this standard, but not really throwing any spanners in the work or adding some new spices to the mix.

However, the dreamy jaunt of 'Giving Birth To Imagined Saviors' yields some staggering, yet smooth ambience all building to that ever vital crescendo. 'In Every Mind' elegantly meanders until that avalanching sound comes crashing down on the proceedings.

'A Swarm' then swans in and out of mellow and distorted passages before smoothing out until its conclusion. But following a somewhat bluesy beginning, 'A Mutiny' unfortunately plods along into some unwelcome monotony.

'As Each End Looms And Subsides', closing the record, has a gloomy aura and introduces some more ambience as it progresses and shifts in and out of different timbres. It is a peak for the album but comes just a little too late to really salvage the record as a whole. The biggest downfall on The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer is that it whirrs around in a tedium. But it still offers up some marvellous moments, only sporadically throughout, mind.

7/10