Suffocating in a Swarm of Cranes begins with a windy roar that blows through stuttering chimes of digital noise. An electric swelling of guitar soon swoops in, merciless and murderous, to stifle both the natural tone and computer burbling, framing Downfall of Gaia’s eerily atmospheric new release as a heavy metal record with explorative progressive tendencies that still, ultimately, is there to rock.
The album’s long, desultory tracks wind around listeners’ ears in menacing serpentine swirls of sound. There is an absolute gallows severity to the release that seems eager to suffocate with its own titled swarm, attacking steadily and with precision. Downfall of Gaia have unleashed a grim beast of a record that indeed suggests Gaia, mythic mother of the Greek pantheon of gods, symbol of Earth as a unified organism, and overall metaphoric stand-in for our small blue-green planet, faces final destruction. Suffocating in a Swarm of Cranes is a planet’s swan song, a howling dirge.
Drawing from punk and hardcore influences, yet fixated on a broader, more widescreen approach to music than many parallel acts, Downfall of Gaia expresses a dark beauty akin to Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia, a gorgeous yet intimate cinematic ode to Earth’s demise. Headquartered in Hamburg, Germany and featuring growled lyrics in their native tongue, Downfall of Gaia are accessible beyond any language barrier, grabbing listeners in a global and gratifying way.
Suffocating in a Swarm of Cranes, while venturing “In the Rivers Bleak” and braving “Drowning by Wing Beats,” lacks the variation and earned intensity of post-rock bands like Godspeed You! Black Emperor even as it echoes them on prolonged instrumental journeys. Its ability to form its own authentic album environment, achieving a sort of strangled bliss, however, is extraordinary. If the exaggerated Mayan calendar hysteria proves valid after all, at least Earth will have had a decent send-off.
Grade: B
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