Review / Post Death Soundtrack / The Unlearning Curve

Ever wonder what music will sound like after you cross over to the other side? Well, I can’t help you there. However, I can tell you about the music by Canadian trio Post Death Soundtrack. Originally formed in Calgary in 2007, Kenneth Buck, Steve Moore, and Jon Ireson now do what many musicians have been doing successfully since around the turn of the century–collaborate via web from their respective homes in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto. Whatever intimacy routers and ethernet cables may lack, physical distance does not take a toll on the band’s musical identity in their second full length album “The Unlearning Curve.” The final mixes end up as equally refined and close as they are dark and looming.

Where Post Death Soundtrack shines the most is in their well-crafted industrial instrumental arrangements. “That Which Is” immediately sinks into an eerie groove with accompanying textures that maintain interest while resisting overindulgence, while “Beauty Eyes I Adore” takes its time getting started, beginning with a cappella harmony before diving into a trip hop beat and twitchy synth. It’s here that influences like Nine Inch Nails can be picked up, or even Liars in their more serene moments.

For a band that dips their toes in so many genres to generally exhibit such refinement and self-control is admirable, which makes it unfortunate that a few bad eggs were left in the bunch. It’s clear that in “Our Time Is Now” and “Little Alice” the band was going for something along the lines of Skinny Puppy recklessness. Unfortunately, the end result sounds more like the unfortunate child of Korn and Insane Clown Posse. To be fair, both of these tracks were written years before the remaining seven tracks at a time when the band was likely still figuring out their sound. Though now that their identity has become more clear, it would have been best if these tracks were altogether left out.

Post Death Soundtrack is all about venturing into unknown territory both musically and lyrically. A line in “Through The Gates” sings “I’m walking through the gates nobody gets through / I’m walking through the gates, I’m nobody / who are you?” Simple, clever, and at times uncomfortably inviting.