Illumination Ritual

EDITORIAL REVIEWS
The Appleseed Cast ILLUMINATION RITUAL is the first full length since 2009 SAGAMARTHA, they'll be touring the U.S this spring. Sweeping and full of atmosphere, the Appleseed Cast embrace chaos and a tuneful math-rock sensibility with a more organic sound.

REVIEW
The Appleseed Cast were tagged as an emo band in their earliest days and that's likely to stick in 2013. It says as much about the elasticity of the genre as it does about how Chris Crisci's mercurial band hasn't allowed anything else to define them since. Over the past decade and a half, they haven't made two consecutive recordings without shuffling their lineup, their sonic focus, and often both: In the late 90s, the Lawrence, Kansas, band were peers of Mineral and Planes Mistaken For Stars, earnest Midwesterners expanding on the template set by Sunny Day Real Estate. By the time they dropped their critically acclaimed, two-volume series ''Low Level Owl'' in 2001, they were receiving Radiohead comparisons, but then again, so was anyone who laid plaintive vocals over electronics and guitars treated with more than two effects pedals. As the 2000s progressed, they moved towards a centrist indie-rock sound before going off the grid into full-on, post-rock moodiness on 2009's ''Sagarmatha.'' By 2011's ''Middle States'' EP, you could sense them circling back towards their original sound, and ''Illumination Ritual'' sticks the landing. Whether or not it's Appleseed Cast's best record feels irrelevant, though it's certainly in contention. At this point, it offers a definitive Appleseed Cast, something that can serve as an entryway to their sprawling discography as well as a culmination of it. Illumination Ritual can certainly be a potent nostalgia trip: the clean, interlocking guitars, Crisci's rounded vocals and nervous percussion rhythms are pure Deep Elm and Jade Tree throwbacks that thankfully avoid a similar tendency towards unwieldy verbiage or grating affectation. Even if there aren't too many singalong moments, Crisci's vocals remain warm and melodic throughout and the production is crisp without being brittle. The concision carries over to the instrumentals; ''Branches on the Arrow Peak Revelation'' and ''Simple Forms'' recall ''Peregrine'' or ''Sagarmatha'' with their fluttery guitar delay, subtle electronic manipulation, and floating ambience.for the most part, Appleseed Cast don't excite so much as they comfort; ''Illumination Ritual'' is more a soundtrack for thinking about feelings rather than being in the thrall of emotion. ''Adriatic To Black Sea,'' ''Great Lake Derelict,'' and ''Cathedral Ring'' provide ''Illumination Ritual'''s most forceful moments out of insistent builds rather than sudden movement-- it's unclear what Crisci's getting at besides a certain sense of yearning (lines like ''I feel so akin to rain,'' ''the only girl is shooting for gold,'' ''a new cathedral, burn it down'' are typical) that's abetted by the satisfying effect the trio achieves by pushing the tempo and lunging forward musically. It all makes for a consistent listen, as the longer instrumental passages and more melodic material draw from the same tones and structures. --Pitchfork, April 23, 2013

Number of Discs: 1

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