Dat Fury Radio - Whole Album Commentary and Interview
Interview with Digital Tour Bus - Crazy Tour Stories
IDIOTEQ Names "Surface | Essence" Post-Metal Record of the Month
Post Metal Record of the Month: Meshuggah collides with Explosions in the Sky on “Surface | Essence” by AFTER NATIONS
Interview with Malicious Intent Radio
Malicious Conversations: Andrew Elliott and Travis Baker After Nations
The Obelisk Shares Early Access Review of "Vīrya"
“… granite-slab heavy…consumed by that feeling you get when you listen to Meshuggah that there’s a very large thing rising up very slowly in front of you and surely you’ll never get out alive.” The Obelisk | JJ Koczan
'The Endless Mountain' - Top 10 Albums of 2022 | Prog.Me
Fecking Bahamas | Exclsuive // After Nations Release 'Aon' Playthrough Video
"The Endless Mountain" - Top 10 Post-Rock & Post-Metal Albums of 2022
"Aon" - Top 10 Post-Metal Tracks of 2022
"Mons" - Top 20 Post-Metal Tracks of 2022
Metalhead Community Reviews 'Jūra'
Jūra stands out with its advanced musicianship, technical difficulty, and progressive rock character of After Nations. Although the general mood of this song sounded traditional and familiar to me since my first discovery of it, I found out that the band has a lot more to offer when I went into their discography and sneak-peeked a few more songs from their latest studio album, The Endless Mountain. The album is heavily influenced by Indian culture which automatically makes them unique, which we don’t necessarily get to hear in this song.
Technically, the album has all the necessary standards to be considered a great-sounding album, in my humble opinion. The sound design has familiar characteristics from the post and prog-rock worlds, sounds very balanced, safe, and also easy listening at the same time.
Great-sounding instrumental prog-rock song, blending traditional and modern influences with advanced musicianship… It reminds me of a successful combination and execution of both vintage and modern prog-rock influences in a good balance, with a slightly modern character. They make me hear early Dream Theater as well as Joe Satriani, The Aristocrats (Guthrie Govan), Icefish (Marco Sfogli), and Plini, while also supporting it with math, post, and jazz-rock influences in their musical foundation.
Roadie Music: After Nations shows all its mastery in Féin
Roadie Music
Fabiano Menon
The American quartet After Nations cannot be considered just a metal band.
Féin, their recently released single, is the purest proof of that, where we have elements of jazz and fusion in their tempos mixed with a heavy sound, full of intentionality and a very technical, virtuous band that presents an extraordinary talent in bringing a work as solid and full of rhythmic layers as this and that will make the head any lover of legitimately made music spin with such a presentation of pure art.
After Nations: Live At Myna Bird
PunKanormal Activity
Psych-prog instrumentalists After Nations have released a new live video for their recent single Aegenera. Filmed at Myna Bird Studio & Sound in Portland, Oregon, the video is the first of a series of three live performances scheduled to be released throughout the winter.
After Nations plan to announce tour dates for spring 2020, and are currently writing their next full length album slated for a summer 2020 release. Aegenera was written and produced by guitarist Andrew Elliott, with additional guitar writing by Dave Sandoval. The single was recorded at Grueling Pace, Meager Rations in Kansas City, with tracking, mixing and mastering by Elliott.
After Nations announce new single and tour dates
PunKanormal Activity
After Nations has announced an upcoming new single and dates for a US tour. The shifting, experimental psych-prog project will be touring the US midwest, southwest, and west coast later this summer in support of their new single Aegenera. The single is set for release July 17th, and will be available on Bandcamp, and streaming on iTunes and Spotify.
While you wait for Aegenera to hit the streets and the band to roll through town, check out the band’s 2018 release Consteleid. The album was recorded at Grueling Pace, Meager Rations in Kansas City, MO, with tracking and mixing by Andrew Elliott, and master engineering by Brad Blackwood at Euphonic Masters in Memphis, TN.
Tour Dates
8/15 Lawrence, KS Replay Lounge
8/16 Denver, CO Goosetown
8/17 Ft. Collins, CO Pinball Jones West
8/18 Colorado Springs, CO Triple Nickel
8/20 Provo, UT The Rad Shack
8/21 Boise, ID The Shredder
8/22 Salem, OR Graveyard
8/23 Portland, OR Kenton Club
8/24 Seattle, WA The Funhouse
8/25 Portland, OR Myna Bird Studios
8/28 Oakland, CA Flood Haus
8/29 Las Vegas, NV Shawteau
8/30 Phoenix, AZ Tempe Tavern
8/31 Santa Fe, NM Zephyr
After Nations
After Nations - Loud-Stuff Interview
Loud-Stuff - Joanna Wilson
How would you describe your music?
Andrew: Our music draws from a few genres pretty aggressively. You can hear the heavier side of prog and post-rock as a foundation, and other influences that let us expand or experiment with that core sound – things like jazz, psychedelic rock, and math. I love taking elements of anything I’m finding interesting in music at the time, and creating something that is initially angular, weird, maybe even incoherent from those, and gradually turning that into something rhythmic, intriguing, and musical. People often say we sound like The Mars Volta meets Pelican, or Dillinger meets Mastodon, or a recent one that I really like – Mahavishnu Orchestra meets Captain Beefheart on crack. That all seems fair – I think I can see where people are coming from with that.
Tell us about how the history of the project?
Andrew: This project initially started as a personal, solo experiment for me. It was a way for me to explore song writing – and frankly speaking, how I gradually learned to play guitar. Since then there have been a lot of changes – the project doesn’t even resemble its earlier phases. In 2016 Travis Baker (drums) and Zack Krishtalka (bass) joined me, and most recently, David Sandoval (guitar) came with us on tour this past summer to support the release of our new album, ‘Consteleid‘.
What are your influences/ musical heroes?
Andrew: Like a lot of people, I think my influences and tastes shift and change over time. Early on I was just completely enthralled with Omar Rodriguez Lopez – and I think the impact of his approach to writing and his style of playing are pretty apparent in some facets of how I come to music. Lately, I’m really taken with Tigran Hamasyan, Poil, and Piniol. Piniol in particular are just so fucking masterful at taking what seem like simple musical ideas, and setting them in relation to one another in ways that reveal this really intriguing, deeply thoughtful compositional ability. Songs like Mimolle and Pikiwa are just brilliant in my opinion – they’re like the crystal meth of musical experiences, it’s overwhelming, intense stuff, and it can seem impossible to go back from.
What inspires you?
Andrew: Individuals that come to music in prolific, dedicated ways, and in ways that allow for change and growth, that seem to honour their particular aesthetic and orientation to music – that’s are a powerful influence and inspiration for me. At the same time, as I’ve written more and more music over the years, I’m finding that very non-musical things inspire me to write; studying and speaking Japanese, reading about physics or neurology, or mycology, or political economy, working on sociology-leaning projects with my partner – these kinds of things indirectly and directly create different kinds of inspiration and thought to pour into songwriting and music.
Do you write on the road? Or do you prefer to write in the studio?
Andrew: I never write on the road, and I can’t even really conceive of doing that to be honest. That seems like a crazy privilege that’s just out of my reach at this time. I can’t imagine having enough time or resources in one place to be able to get any meaningful ideas down. Frankly, we’re all just trying to get a minimum amount of sleep and connect with people from show to show on tour. So my preference and approach has pretty much always been to write at my home studio.
What is your favourite song to perform live?
Andrew: ‘Infora’ – off of our most recent album – is probably my favourite song to play right now. It has a few moments where we go just fucking nuts, and a few places that has the audience being bombarded with this riff that feels both really angular and powerful, but musical and accessible despite it being kind of overwhelming.
What would be your dream tour to be a part of?
Andrew: I think we’d want to tour with Pinoil. We all have a massive amount of respect for those guys (the supergroup of Poil and Ni), we’re all inspired by what they’re doing musically, and I think our styles have a really complimentary contrast that would make for a really interesting lineup for people.
https://youtu.be/0Os85URWtz8
What are you current thoughts on the music industry?
Andrew. Many. I think at the broadest scale, if we’re talking about trying to create livelihoods and incentivizing or supporting creativity in pragmatic, realizable, financial ways – I don’t think anyone would suggest the music industry achieves that goal. I think it’s important to recognize a few of the reasons as to why that happens as well: the conventional infrastructure and private, corporate interests that monopolize and distribute the resources and wealth generated through music have a set function, and specific incentives. That older model is designed to generate profit for private, shareholder interests. For that to work, it has to artificially create barriers of access and entry – and distribute things like access and resources selectively amongst themselves – and that system is only going to do that with and for things that are understood as relatively safe, stable investments. For that same reason, it’s saturated. Completely. There’s no real room in a music-as-commodity model for new artists to enter that space – not in any way that has to do with merits. If you’re trying to pair creativity and musical expression with the prerequisite that it’s also a ‘safe, stable investment’, you’re going to get a certain spectrum of results. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it gives you a framework to understand why certain trends in the music industry are so predominant and powerful, why some things don’t seem to appear or manifest, and why some things that initially seem inconsistent (e.g. “that band is incredible, why aren’t they signed”), fit pretty comfortably within that model.
If that’s the macroscale of music for profit as a commercial commodity in it, you’ve got a sub-industry of sales and consumption targeting artists and musicians who sit on the periphery or outside of that system (think Guitar Center, Sonicbids and Reverbnation – independent artist promotional platforms in general, large parts of music’s PR industry). It’s a specialized section of the music industry that largely sells certain kinds of services or limited access to the commercial music industry’s more visible areas. For some that’s a way to increase visibility and their fan base, but largely it generates its profits off of the ambitions of hopes of independent, unsigned musicians, and changes very little for the musicians that are trying to use what look like points of entry – but are largely their own industry targeting those very musicians. It’s also limited in how effective it can be in raising visibility and awareness of new music – because one thing it’s not going to do is upset the privileged access. That’s not necessarily a shitty thing either – but again, it results in certain kinds of patterns, certain kinds of results.
So what we’ve got is a music industry that is extremely talent-saturated, and is built on an older model of monetization that keeps redirecting and subsuming new innovations in distribution and access. If you look at that broad scale of music – the lens that holds both the mainstream, the musician-services industry, and the independent industry and local scenes – it can create the impression that it encourages “genuine” or “authentic” creativity due to competition. That those that “really want it” or whose music is somehow qualitatively superior is what rises to the surface in that environment. I hear some independent musicians not just echo this understanding, but even celebrate it. That what you get in a system that doesn’t materially support creative works is somehow assuring that the people that are doing it, do it because they love it – they love the music, it’s their passion. “Authenticity and sincerity matter, are best secured doing things this way”, is what seems to be suggested in that view. But that seems like just absolute bullshit to me, and takes the idea of poverty and strife and authentic creativity as mutually exclusive values. I don’t think that’s something to celebrate – I even think it perpetuates some of the ugliest aspects of the music industry.
The idea that competition within creative efforts fuels ‘better creation’, and the reality of the scarcity and difficulty that exists in terms of making a living creating music or creating art both seem pretty disconnected and distracted from the issue. I don’t think it takes very much reflection for anyone to look at the top 40 charts of any mainstream music to find examples of both brilliance and absolute derivative garbage – so it’s difficult to continue making the argument that the current system creates a better result. And we can found countless examples of musicians with and without secure financial livelihoods who sit anywhere on the spectrum of not giving a shit about the music they’re selling, to being profoundly connected to their experience of creating and sharing their music. So what you’ve got ultimately, is a system that is pro-competition, pro-scarcity and exclusivity, and pretty anti-music in a lot material, pragmatic, meaningful ways. Spinning that as positive just seems like a symptom of a very false value system, and it’s damaging to most of the unsigned, independent musicians. The one major positive I see in this system actually has nothing to do with the system itself; it’s the idea that – despite such a saturated, competitive, and statistically impossible space to succeed in supporting yourself financially, people still have such a profound and powerful desire to express and share themselves, that they’ll participate and try regardless of how fucked the circumstances are. There’s something really heartening and beautiful about that. And it’s not the music industry should be celebrated for that – it’s not fostering that spirit, it’s threatening it on systematic level. Despite all of that, people persist, they go on creating. That’s intensely inspiring.
I think it’s crucial that musicians and consumers alike recognize those general trends, and then ask themselves, “what kind society do I want to be a part of? what kind of creative environment do I want to see, what kind of creativity do I want to support? how do I actually do that? how does that work? what’s actually happening”. I don’t think there’s an inherently ‘wrong’ answer to that question, but I think criticism about that system, or about a lack of creativity in the mainstream, or railing on pop music, or insisting that people “support local” – any of these pieces taken in isolation just kind of misses some of the broader realities of how we come to music in the 21st century. That doesn’t mean you don’t “support local”, or that you don’t have an opinion; I think it means you understand why precisely one would do that, and then square that against all of your other behaviours and beliefs surrounding music, creativity, and living in a consumer-capitalist society.
If we’re living in a consumer-based society, and we don’t want to materially support artists in the way that we support every other facet of society in this kind of system, we can expect a certain kind of result – we’ll get exactly what we’re getting right now. If people want that to change, a lot of things are possible if we’re willing to rethink some things. We subsidize all kinds of things in the US – things that most people wouldn’t support if they knew and understood the nature and extent of what some of their tax dollars are supporting. There’s absolutely the room and resources to subsidize something like music, or the creative arts more generally – and to decouple the idea of ‘good music’ being wedded to shareholder outcomes. So it’s a much bigger issue than just sizing up the nature of the industry. I think answering that question involves looking to the implications of our actions, or lack of actions in some ways, and making an informed choice about what we want and what we believe in. And in this case, what we think music and creative expression means to us as individuals, as communities, as a society, and how we want to support and foster those values
What is the funniest/weirdest experience you have had on tour?
Andrew: A few years ago, I climbed Pinto Mountain with an older lineup in the band – Tyler Mehaffey and Trent Utley. We played a show at House of Blues Hollywood, finished loading out at like 2 in the morning, and then decided to drive to Phoenix the same night to get the drive out of the way. We ended sleeping for a few hours at a truck stop just outside of Joshua Tree National Park on the way, and then, very ambitiously, and very stupidly of us, we thought it would be an awesome idea to go into the park and see if we could climb a mountain before continuing to Phoenix. At sunrise we drove around for maybe half an hour, found a scenic view that had this informational placard displaying Mt. Pinto. Being the outdoorsmen that we were, we sized up the distance and figured we could get to the base, climb to the top, and return in maybe three hours. We fucked up, real, real bad on that one.
We went through all of our water and gas station trail mix in the first three hours, and over the next two hours, we managed to scramble our way up maybe 3/4 of the climb. We thought it would be an equally solid idea to get high once we decided we weren’t going to climb up any further. Needless to say, it was much more difficult to get down the mountain than it was to get up – and we ended up going down a boulder-dense route that we hadn’t come up on. There were a few moments where we thought we just couldn’t get back down – not anytime quickly. When we finally got back down to the base of the mountain, Tyler stepped on a cactus that perfectly pierced his calf in a way that looked like a snake bite (and absolutely yes – we panicked pretty intensely for a moment; there was some talk of sucking venom out before we knew what was going on). The entire two hour hike from the base back to the van, we kept slipping and having our feet sink into these loose holes in the ground – which we later discovered were tarantula burrows. Woof. We pissed in fate’s face for sure that day. So very stupid. I remember that whole experience really fondly though – it’s just one of those exceptional tour experiences that had nothing to do with music and everything to do with (perhaps like jackasses) embracing what was right in front of us.
What are your future plans?
Andrew: 2019 is going to be exciting for us. We’re releasing a new video for in January that we filmed in Denver on our past tour, I’ve begun writing the next album, and we’re planning on doing an east coast tour this summer.
After Nations is:
Andrew Elliott – guitar
David Sandoval – guitar
Travis Baker – drums
Zack Krishtalka – bass
https://youtu.be/NFD7zmmdYI4
MusicWaves Reviews Consteleid
"Trio instrumental débordant d'énergie et d'idées, After Nations devrait intéresser les amateurs de The Mars Volta et ceux qu'une expérience rock-psychédélique un peu remuante n'effraie pas."
English Translation:
An instrumental trio bursting with energy and ideas, After Nations should be of interest to fans of The Mars Volta and those who are not afraid of a restless rock-psychedelic experience.
After Nations is a band from Kansas City that has existed since 2012 at the instigation of guitarist Andrew Elliott and has made two albums since 2014. Two years after "The Bearing Point" the trio returns with "Consteleid".
To situate his style, After Nations cites three influences that have something to put the mouth water: The Mars Volta, The Dillinger Escape Plan and Russian Circles. Of the latter, the Americans share an entirely instrumental practice of their art but it is especially the reference to The Mars Volta which jumps to the ears in "Consteleid", from the beginning of the album with a "Holon Patterns" which starts on the hats of wheel in the manner so characteristic of the band to Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. We will find many times this way to bring out the raw energy by the sharp riffs and a rhythmic setting of very high intensity especially in 'The Janus Head' and 'Juggernaut Pendulum'. This comparison alone would suffice to explain the very technical and unbridled nature of the music of After Nations, whose compositions too often suffer from a lack of structure to order the proliferation of ideas and directions borrowed by the trio.
And of ideas, After Nations does not miss it and is not satisfied to propose an instrumental version of The Mars Volta. In fact, After Nations adds several variations to its psychedelic rock by going to tap into jazz-rock and post-rock. These are the moments that offer the most interest with breaths made of quieter sequences or changes in harmonic themes that give more meaning to the different layouts. Thus one appreciates the Indian modes of 'Hierophant Tongues' which will bring back to connoisseurs the jazz-rock of Shakti or the air passages of 'Eos', undoubtedly the most successful title of the album, and 'Infora' which offers beautiful parts of Zappa guitar.
"Consteleid" intimidated by its complexity and asphyxiating energy but attracted by its overflowing creativity. We come out of the experience a little sounded with a desire to deepen the good impressions experienced on many occasions but discouraged by the magnitude of the task. For fans of the various artists mentioned in this column, it should not be difficult to immerse yourself in the world of After Nations. For others, it's an adventure to try.
Original Text:
After Nations est un groupe en provenance de Kansas City qui existe depuis 2012 sous l'instigation de son guitariste Andrew Elliott et qui a réalisé deux albums depuis 2014. Deux ans après "The Bearing Point" le trio revient avec "Consteleid".
Afin de situer son style, After Nations cite trois influences qui ont de quoi mettre l'eau à la bouche : The Mars Volta, The Dillinger Escape Plan et Russian Circles. De cette dernière, les Américains partagent une pratique entièrement instrumentale de leur art mais c'est surtout la référence à The Mars Volta qui saute aux oreilles dans "Consteleid", dès l'entame de l'album avec un 'Holon Patterns' qui démarre sur les chapeaux de roue à la manière si caractéristique de la bande à Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. On retrouvera à de nombreuses reprises cette façon de faire jaillir l’énergie brute par les riffs tranchants et une mise en place rythmique de très haute intensité notamment dans 'The Janus Head' et 'Juggernaut Pendulum'. Rien que cette comparaison suffirait à expliquer le caractère très technique et débridé de la musique d'After Nations, dont les compositions souffrent trop souvent d'un défaut de structure pour ordonner le foisonnement d'idées et de directions empruntées par le trio.
Et d'idées, After Nations n'en manque pas et ne se contente pas de proposer une version instrumentale de The Mars Volta. De fait, After Nations ajoute plusieurs variantes à son rock psychédélique en allant puiser dans le jazz-rock et le post-rock. Ce sont ces moments qui offrent le plus d'intérêt avec des respirations faites de séquences plus calmes ou de changements de thématiques harmoniques qui donnent plus de sens aux différents agencements. Ainsi on apprécie les modes indiens de 'Hierophant Tongues' qui rappellera aux connaisseurs le jazz-rock de Shakti ou les passages aériens de 'Eos', sans doute le titre le plus réussi de l'album, et 'Infora' qui offre de belles parties de guitare zappaienne.
"Consteleid" intimide par sa complexité et son énergie asphyxiante mais attire par sa créativité débordante. On ressort de l'expérience un peu sonné avec une envie d'approfondir les bonnes impressions éprouvées à de nombreuses occasions mais découragé par l'ampleur de la tâche. Pour les amateurs des différents artistes évoqués dans cette chronique, il ne devrait pas être difficile de s'immerger dans l'univers d'After Nations. Pour les autres, c'est une aventure à tenter.
Los AFTER NATIONS hacen su tercera travesía por constelaciones progresivas
HOLA, AMIGOS DE AUTOPOIETICAN, LES SALUDA CÉSAR INCA.
Hoy es el turno de presentar a “Consteleid”, el más reciente disco de AFTER NATIONS, trío conformado por Andrew Elliott [guitarras], Travis Baker [batería] y Zack Krishtalka [bajo]. En tiempos pasados, el bajista había sido Tyler Mehaffey y el baterista, Alexander Thomas. El grupo en cuestión tuvo sus orígenes en un proyecto solista de Elliott en el año 2012 en Kansas City (Misuri), pero muy pronto el trío conformado bajo esta premisa pasó a convertirse en un grupo propiamente dicho con nombre propio. Así las cosas, los AFTER NATIONS empezaron a componer, almacenar y grabar discos, comenzando con “Wake Of The Mendacon” del año 2014 y continuando con “The Bearing Point”, del año 2016, para ahora mostrarnos su tercer disco “Consteleid”, el cual fue publicado en el primer día del pasado mes de agosto.
Los primeros 4 ¼ minutos del disco están ocupados por ‘Holon Patterns’, pieza que instala el ideario estético de la banda con su ágil y electrizante mezcla de metal experimental, math-rock y una modalidad particularmente pesada de psicodelia. A través de los complejos flujos y desvíos por los que se orientan los pulidamente calculados cambios de ritmo y motivo, el grupo elabora un desafiante juego de contrastes entre los pasajes más fieros y los más sutiles. Sigue a continuación ‘Manifold Of Aeons’, ítem que recoge y capitaliza la siembra de sofisticado vigor instaurada por el tema de entrada para darle un dinamismo progresivo más filudo al asunto. Así, los pasajes fieros adquieren una dosis mayor de furia y los contrastes con los pasajes constreñidos son más agudos; de rebote, como no puede ser de otra manera, se exige una ingeniería rítmica aún más sesuda que también incluye algunos factores jazz-rockeros en ciertos pasajes. ‘Hierophant Tongues’, el tercer tema del álbum, se caracteriza por una musculatura rotunda donde se sintetizan los legados de los dos temas precedentes y se añade un toque de juguetona majestuosidad al esquema de trabajo recurrente del trío. La miniatura ‘Aurora’ – dura poco más de medio minuto – exhibe unas lánguidas escalas de guitarra; a partir de allí, se abre la puerta para el arribo de ‘Eos’, un número bastante especial dentro del repertorio del disco pues consta de dos secciones claramente diferenciadas entre sí. La primera de ellas se inserta en un estándar post-rockero que asume influencias confluyentes entre el filo visceral del space-rock y el delirio sublime de unos KING CRIMSON de la fase 73-74. La segunda sección se estructura bajo una compleja ingeniería math-rockera donde se fusionan los horizontes paradigmáticos de DON CABALLERO (etapa 1995-8) y GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES!, añadiéndose algunos modismos metaleros en el camino cimentado con asfalto fulguroso. ‘The Janus Head’ vuelve de lleno a la dinámica de musculaturas rotundas que iba en crescendo en la ilación de los tres primeros temas: en esta ocasión específica, los aires de familia más fuertes son con ‘Manifold Of Aeons’.
La secuencia de las piezas #7 y #8 repite el proceso de miniatura y pieza plenamente desarrollada: ‘Atora’ es un breve despliegue de centellas neuróticas mientras que ‘Psychlotome’ enarbola un contundente ejercicio de ingeniería rotunda, esta vez un poco menos complejo que el que se exhibe en cualquiera de los temas largos precedentes. De todas maneras, ‘Psychlotome’ luce con robusta gallardía la sucesión de diversos motivos y esquemas rítmicos que fluye por sus conductos sonoros; de hecho, apreciamos muy positivamente el realce del rol del bajo y el empleo de muchos trucos jazz-rockeros de parte de la batería. La dupla de ‘Juggernaut Pendulum’ e ‘Infora’ se encarga de cerrar el repertorio del disco con un pletórico sentido de la compleción coherente de un sistema estético bien perfilado. ‘Juggernaut Pendulum’ elabora un recurso más mesurado para el despliegue de la garra rockera esencial del trío... la cual sigue exhibiendo su furor inmanente con la misma dosis de siempre. La misma dosis, un enfoque menos furioso donde hay cabida para algunos dejos blues-rockeros y jazzeros en medio de la perpetua mezcla de math-rock y post-metal. Por su parte, ‘Infora’ redondea la faena global del disco volviendo con todo a los modismos preeestablecidos en los dos primeros temas, logrando con ello dar una nueva vuelta de tuerca a la incendiaria vitalidad que antes marcó a la pieza #3 en conjunción con el señorío propio de la pieza #8. ¡Gran final de disco! Todo esto fue lo que el trípode musical de AFTER NATIONS nos ha brindado a lo largo del repertorio de “Consteleid”. Este disco encarna una muy estimulante y demasiado vibrante travesía por constelaciones progresivas cuya dinámica ecléctica se pasea solventemente por muchas de las áreas más agresivas del género: más de 42 minutos de música guerrera y sofisticada. Para quienes recién estén descubriendo a los AFTER NATIONS, que sepan que este disco es una estupenda y atractiva vía de entrada a su cosmovisión musical particular.
Muestras de “Consteleid”.-
Manifold Of Aeons: https://afternations.bandcamp.com/track/manifold-of-aeons
Eos: https://afternations.bandcamp.com/track/eos
Infora: https://afternations.bandcamp.com/track/infora
English Translation:
HELLO, FRIENDS OF AUTOPOIETICAN, CESAR INCA GREETS YOU.
Today it’s time to present "Consteleid", the most recent disc of AFTER NATIONS, a trio formed by Andrew Elliott [guitars], Travis Baker [drums] and Zack Krishtalka [bass]. In times past, the bassist had been Tyler Mehaffey and the drummer, Alexander Thomas. The group in question had its origins in a solo project of Elliott in 2012 in Kansas City (Missouri), but very soon the trio formed under this premise went on to become a group proper with its own name. So, AFTER NATIONS began to compose, store and record albums, starting with "Wake Of The Mendacon" from 2014 and continuing with "The Bearing Point", in 2016, to now show us their third album "Consteleid", which was published on August 1st, 2018.
The first 4 ¼ minutes of the album are occupied by 'Holon Patterns', a piece that installs the aesthetic ideology of the band with its agile and electrifying mix of experimental metal, math-rock and a particularly heavy modality of psychedelia. Through the complex flows and detours through which the polished calculated changes of rhythm and motive are oriented, the group elaborates a challenging game of contrasts between the fiercest and subtlest passages. Then follow 'Manifold Of Aeons', an item that collects and capitalizes on the planting of sophisticated vigor established by the entry issue to give a more progressive dynamism to the matter. Thus, the fierce passages acquire a greater dose of fury and the contrasts with the constricted passages are more acute; returning, as it can not be otherwise, requires an even more thoughtful rhythmic engineering that also includes some jazz-rock factors in certain passages. 'Hierophant Tongues', the third theme of the album, is characterized by a resounding musculature where the legacies of the two preceding songs are synthesized and a touch of playful majesty is added to the recurrent work scheme of the trio. The 'Aurora' miniature - lasting just over half a minute - exhibits languid guitar scales; from there, the door opens for the arrival of 'Eos', a very special number within the repertoire of the disc since it consists of two sections clearly differentiated from each other. The first one is inserted in a post-rock standard that assumes confluent influences between the visceral edge of space-rock and the sublime delirium of some KING CRIMSON - reminiscent of their 73-74 phase. The second section is structured under a complex math-rocker engineering where the paradigmatic horizons of DON CABALLERO (stage 1995-8) and GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES !, adding some metal idioms on the road cemented with blazing asphalt. 'The Janus Head' returns fully to the dynamic of strong musculature that was crescendo in the illation of the first three themes: on this specific occasion, the strongest family heirs are with 'Manifold Of Aeons'.
The sequence of pieces # 7 and # 8 repeats the process of miniature and fully developed piece: 'Atora' is a brief display of neurotic sparks while 'Psychlotome' holds a blunt engineering exercise, this time a little less complex than which is exhibited in any of the preceding long themes. In every way, 'Psychlotome' shines with robust gallantry the succession of diverse motifs and rhythmic schemes that flow through its sound conduits; in fact, we appreciate very positively the enhancement of the role of the bass and the use of many jazz-rock tricks from the battery. The duo of 'Juggernaut Pendulum' and 'Infora' is responsible for closing the repertoire of the album with a full sense of the coherent completion of a well-outlined aesthetic system. 'Juggernaut Pendulum' elaborates a more measured resource for the deployment of the essential rock claw of the trio ... which continues to exhibit its immanent fury with the same dose as always. The same dose, a less furious approach where there is room for some blues-rockers and jazzers in the midst of the perpetual mix of math-rock and post-metal. On the other hand, 'Infora' rounds off the global task of the disc, returning with everything to the pre-established idioms in the first two themes, thus achieving a new twist to the incendiary vitality that before marked the piece # 3 in conjunction with the lordship of piece # 8. A great album finale! All this was what the AFTER NATIONS musical trio has given us throughout the "Consteleid" repertoire. This album embodies a very stimulating and overly vibrant journey through progressive constellations whose eclectic dynamics run solitably through many of the most aggressive areas of the genre: more than 42 minutes of sophisticated and warlike music. For those who are just discovering AFTER NATIONS, let them know that this album is a great and attractive way to enter their particular musical worldview.
Samples of "Consteleid"
Manifold Of Aeons: https://afternations.bandcamp.com/track/manifold-of-aeons
After Nations; Interview with Andrew Elliott
As I’m sure you all know already, we here at Punkanormal Activity do our best to shine a light on all things punk. But sometimes a band comes along and gives you shake, and you just need to find out more about them. Case in point, Kansas City’s psych-prog-math rock instrumentalists After Nations. With the Aug. 1st digital release of Consteleid on steady rotation over my vacation, I reached out to the band to find out more about the band.
Before you get to the interview with Andrew , take a minute and check out the amazing preview video:
PKA: How has the reaction been so far for Consteleid
Andrew: I always struggle to get a sense of how an album is received, or what kind of reaction people are having. I think to begin with, this kind of music has a relatively small audience. We’re also a pretty obscure band – we don’t have a huge following, we aren’t networked into a marketing industry that can provide meaningful feedback or insights (facebook——–), and it’s largely people that are close to us that give us the most meaningful feedback. Sizing up a reaction to an album can be difficult then, because on the one hand, I can see a modest stream count going up and some scant online sales, but I have no idea what those people are thinking, how they’re feeling about the music. On the other hand, when I talk to my close friends, or people who have known this band for a while and have a strong opinion about music, and have a sense of how this music has changed over time, I’m hearing things like “it’s the best one you’ve done”, “it’s brain melting”, “this slays”. It’s just difficult to weigh that positive, close feedback against or alongside the kind of a void of ‘everyone else’. I don’t think one can represent the other, and for the vast majority of people that hear this album, I just don’t know what they’re thinking. I guess that’s my invitation to people to let us know what they think about the album.
PKA: Often in bands, the vocalist would be the main songwriter, and the songs would begin from lyrics or a hook as the base of the song. How does your process differ working as a band without a vocalist?
Andrew: I think there are a number of ways to go about songwriting – it’s an infinite and open process. I have the sense that not having vocals doesn’t create any kind of musical dilemma or obstacle, because I think fundamentally, with or without vocals, you’re working with the same musical elements: melody, harmony, rhythm (unless we’re talking about spoken word on top of music, or something challenging or experimenting with the concept of music). You can start with any of those, and what emerges is intimately related to where you begin.
The process of writing usually takes a few forms in After Nations. I’ll typically write several parts in a certain key: riffs, chord progressions with melodies, eccentric accent patterns, bass grooves with melodies or counterplay with the guitar, some breakdowns, a drum groove or accent pattern that has guitar and bass focused on teasing that pattern out – pretty much any iteration of those processes. Sometimes I’ll write those with the intention of structure, of having certain sections lending themselves to transition well to others. Other times I’ll treat a section as a total one-of, weirdo moments that may be difficult to put into the context of other parts. After I’ve got maybe a few dozen parts, I’ll start arranging everything into a structure. At that point, I’ll start showing what I’ve got to Travis and Zack, and we’ll begin making all of that come to life. In that process, you discover what does and doesn’t work, you adjust, and sometimes, unexpected things happen either through misunderstanding, or feeling out a possibility in real time amongst the three of us. In that space, new things can emerge, and they become yet more sections to work with in an arrangement.
Without vocals or lyrics, the focal experience is directed completely onto the music, so the intention and purpose of what is happening musically is critical. I’ve really tried to make a practice out of putting the writing process at a distance at times, and as much as I’m able to, coming to the structure of a song as a listener rather than a performer. From that view, I’ll continue to make changes to a song until it feels like everything holistically makes sense, flows well, and is fundamentally interesting as a listener. That process can happen at any time up until recording an album – sometimes we’ll have a song ‘finished’ and down for 6 months, but as I get more time on it as a listener, there’s the possibility that changes will be made. For that reason, from writing to tracking, songs tend to take a little over a year to fully come to life in this project.
I think the challenge – and a lot of the joy – of writing and arranging, is taking those various parts, and working out their place (or what’s possible and what happens when the idea of ‘place’ and expectation get shifted around). How sections can relate to one another, how the unexpected and seemingly unrelated aspects of a section can make profound sense if other pieces around it are shifted or altered to create a subtle expectation, or a jarring contrast – making all of that as a whole take you through a wide, open, ever shifting experience of sonic landscapes in a way that feels exciting, disorienting yet flowing, and so wide ranging but focused in what you experience that you have the sense that anything is possible.
PKA: Whenever I listen to any instrumental music, I often want to close my eyes, and visualize what I’m experiencing. Do you think that individual experience is what sets it apart from music with vocals?
Andrew: I think we all have an intimate, personal experience and relationship to music as individuals. I believe that’s the same when vocals and lyrics are present. Even with the shared language and intention of hearing the same lyrics as everyone else – the content that suggests certain imagery, senses, and ideas – we have individual experiences of those concepts, we relate to and understand that experience through the lens of our own life and experience.
Where it seems to differ, in my take of it, is that we don’t use music in our everyday life to communicate or make sense of our experiences in the same ways we would with language. We can communicate with language to determine and track the orbit of a satellite, or to convey to someone the specific reasons their behavior is affecting us positively or negatively. We could also express that through instrumental music – but you’re satellite is definitely getting lost, and you’re relationship may benefit from some more constructive feedback (probably best not to write a mathy song to your roommate if they’re swiping your food or if you want to start a more serious relationship with them; go talk to them). We can even use language in music to more precisely refine what it is we’re trying to say by putting it into a musical context. But when music IS the context, when it is the message, you’re talking about a domain that we use for wholly emotional, associative, and creative expression.
So the potential of instrumental just feels different. It has the ability to be perceived precisely as the listener’s experience enables them. If the same music had lyrics and vocals, it may guide or orient the listener to something else, towards a specific intention – maybe getting the listening audience closer to the same page as the writer’s own thoughts and experiences. That may also be very personal, but it’s an altogether different experience. With instrumental music, you have the arbitrary but associative symbols and experiential phenomena of the music, and yourself – there are no other guides or ideas to orient you. So I think we find ourselves entering kind of meditative, open states of mind when we listen to this kind of thing, and the ideas, feelings, concepts, and associations that we have with that experience arise from within us – and that is profoundly personal. It’s the experience of having music evoke in us whatever may arise from us as an individual.
All music, instrumental or otherwise, is experienced on an individual level. I think there’s a spectrum where you have more orientation and possibly a more generally shared understanding of an experience on the lyrical/vocal end of things – but with individual experiences of what that music means. And that shared sense is powerful, it makes us feel connected to others in very visceral ways. On the instrumental side, you still have intention that drives that creation of the music, but the field of interpretation is vastly more open. It’s less likely to share precisely what it is that you and another person are feeling, thinking, experiencing on this other end of the spectrum, but what you experience may be profoundly intimate, and wholly embodying your current understanding of something. That’s just insanely powerful and resonant with people.
Even more profoundly, I believe there is a different sense of connection that arises from the instrumental side of the music spectrum. Rather than being expressed and verified through language, it’s expressed musically, and received and understood – musically. Something about communicating and expressing in such an abstract way feels as though we come closer to touching our lives, our experiences, our understanding, in intuitive, flowing ways – in a way that transcends language. I think both forms – lyrical music and instrumental music – are of equal weight. They just foster different kinds of feeling and thinking. I think I lean to instrumental music because I’m drawn to the feeling of connection, of thinking and understanding that feels beyond words, and apart from certain ways of thinking. If lyrical music fosters connection by bringing us outside of ourselves, through having us share our internal world and seeing and feeling those connections with others, instrumental music seems more like having the external world meeting you, prompting you to reach internally, and to find that you’re already connected to the outer – that somehow, that experience makes it intuitively felt and known that your place and sense of connection to not just music, or other people, but to everything, has always been present; it’s like realizing and living that presence, and in a very flowing, present way
PKA: Did you get a chance to work out the material live before recording?
Andrew: With every album, we go through the writing and arranging process, making revisions and adjustments along the way. That usually takes something like a year, and throughout that time, as songs feel more or less ready, we’ll begin playing them at our shows, and continue to make changes as we get a greater sense of them live. By the time we record, the album has its core finished. We’ll then track the drums and bass, and then I’ll go about the process of adding guitar layers and effects – which in the case of this album respectively took two days and a period of about two months.
PKA: Consteleid has a very raw feel, and sounds like it will translate very well live. Was it important to have the studio and live experience match?
Andrew: I think you’re right, that the album has a relatively raw, live feel to it. I think that’s a reflection of both limited experience as an engineer, and part of the sound that I’m drawn to at this stage in my listening. I’m not as drawn to overly processed or meticulously clean recordings, and I think it makes sense that a lot of my orientation as a listener comes through in the album.
PKA: I’ve seen the recent announcement of the addition of David Sandoval. How does he change the dynamics, and what can we expect from the live shows?
Andrew: People can expect to effectively hear and experience everything that’s on the album, virtually as it is, live. A huge driver in asking Dave to join us (beyond his being a guitarist that just goddamn rips and a friendly, professional guy) was wanting the ability to share these songs without making any compromises in a live setting. With this album, as with each album, I can’t play everything that’s there. I’ve always had to focus on critical parts and cut other things. With this album, I just didn’t feel we could do that. The writing is all interdependent; everything has a place, every part is serving the music. It just doesn’t have the same energy, feeling, or texture without all of it being played live – so I reached out to Dave to help fully realize this music on tour. So effectively, what you get with the album, you’re going to get live… it’s just going to more intense, and louder… like… really loud.
PKA: I ask this of everyone, which bands should we all be listening to?
Andrew:
Piniol Bandcamp
Strobes Youtube
Car Bomb Youtube
Sampha Youtube
Tigran Hamasyan Youtube
The Rippingtons Youtube
Owane Youtube
Béla Bartók Youtube
Punch Brothers Youtube
Thank you very much to Andrew for taking time out to answer some questions, and for the excellent music suggestions he left us with. If your in Kansas City, MO. check out the release show on Friday Aug. 17th, or check out the remaining tour dates and the links below for all the latest on the band.
After Nations release new album “Consteleid”
Kansas City rockers After Nations have just dropped a new album called “Consteleid”. The album features 10 tracks of technical instrumental psych-prog and is available via all digital platforms. You can check it out (and get your face melted!) below via Spotify or Bandcamp, and read what Andrew Elliott stated.
“We’re immensely proud of this album. It embodies countless hours of writing, rehearsing, arranging, imagining, reflecting, doubt, excitement, and reflects our efforts to share some of our most fundamental and expressive parts of self. It’s been a long road to be able to finally share this with all of you, and we’re profoundly grateful be able to do so.” – Andrew Elliott | After Nations