My understanding is that these guys started out as an ambientish black/post-metal group; the sound here is very diverse and there are lots of guest spots, including Mike Keneally and Jeff Gauthier. Synth-heavy and it would be about a thousand times more awesome if the synths were replaced by the instruments synthesized, since frankly the tones aren't that great and sometimes you get a sort of Windham Metal feel. Mostly clean vox singing about Jesus and associated topics, when you can make him out, which is most of the time.
FCC on two (“fucking”).
Four has what sounds like synthpoppy long vocal lines over synth string swells? Unusual and effective, at least in context of the album as a whole. Think Opeth's quieter moments, without guitar.
Best: 1, 3, 7, 9
1.Wobbly synths open, static fills in. Fairly post-metal.
2.FCC (“fucking”). Similar to 1 but less heaviosity.
3.Lyrics taken from a gnostic. Clattery cymbal opening with orchestra bells coming in. Syncopated tuned percussion and occasional horn stabs. Symph-proggy!
4.Ambient beginning, very pleasant. Whole track has kind of a down at the mouth new romantic synthpoppy thing(+vibes,+choral-sounding part in the beginning) going on that works quite well. Lugubrious vocals that sound like they could be artificially slowed-down field hollers (and some of them are clearly sampled).
5.Ultra-cheesy synth Bach-derived outro.
6.Nice drumming and guitarring. Choral, counterpointed vocal part in the last minute?
7.Synthesized double-bass and mallet percussion. This one has a really weird ending; there are fake brass blasts that interact with the vibes for a circusy feeling, then bari sax & high-hat drumming for a bit of swing? Whatever, I likes it.
8.The beginning could come from Eno circa Another Green World. When the vocals come in, bit of a downturn (especially since the line “no one answers the phone” is accompanied by ... a phone ringing, which continues throught the track). Kind of a torch song, female wordless vocals and clavichord-like trills enter ~4 min in. Last 15 secs just the phone ringing.
9.At last, riffage! Keneally takes a pretty great solo. Busy sound on the track, the riffs aren't that great but the fullness makes up for it. Long (30 sec) fadeout.