And So I Watch You From Afar – Megafauna – Album Review
by Killian Laher

And So I Watch You From Afar emerged from the north coast of Ireland around 15 years ago in a blizzard of brawny riffs, beards and bad hair.  Subsequent albums saw them expand this sound, moving away from their post-rock/hardcore roots, and incorporating increased use of vocals and other instrumentation.  To some, it appeared they had lost focus.  Their seventh album is something of a return to their original sound, and almost certainly a return to form.

It opens with the epic North Coast Megafauna, six and a half minutes of guitar heaven.  Knotty intricate guitars are joined by heavy riffing, interspersed with quiet passages before the guitars get positively guttural two-thirds of the way through.  In other words, they pack everything that you would want from ASIWYFA into a six-and-a-half-minute song.  Do Mór is similarly overblown (in a good way) with a surfeit of guitars.  The band displays an excellent grasp of dynamics, switching between calm bits and glorious noise.

Gallery of Honour starts out sounding all blissed out before going mental with headbanging riffs.  It’s another track that oscillates between tranquillity and mayhem, ending up with a soaring guitar solo.  Mother Belfast is a multi-part opus, with Part 1 opening with gentle strings before guitar frenzy kicks in.  After a brief pause, Part 2 opens like a completely different song with a stomping beat and more layered guitars.  Years Ago is one of the more relaxed moments on this album, with a prominent bass part that forces itself between the guitars and into the foreground.  After the moody, string-filled Any Joy and the lively Button Days, the album finishes off with another epic in the shape of Me and Dunbar, which could pass for prime Mogwai.

This is complex, ambitious music.  If you’ve lost track of And So I Watch You From Afar over the years, now is the perfect time to get reacquainted.

North Coast Megafauna