In 2014, if a band allows itself to be marketed as “post-rock” a few assumptions are natural. The band name will be weird, they will play lots of driving instrumentals, and they are probably confident enough to write a concept album without any words. Kuato, a quintet hailing from hailing from Halifax, ticks off all the boxes mentioned above but that is not a dismissal. Their debut full-length effort, The Great Upheaval, is a set of instrumentals inspired by the story of the Acadians being expelled from the band’s home province.
Virtually all of the seven tracks feature a gradual build to a boisterous crescendo. However, most get there by way of distinct paths so there is a fair bit of range here. Tones amble from surfy to sludgy to sparse, often all in the same track. Many listeners will lack the synesthetic wiring to piece together the underlying narrative without big clues, but this record seems to make the most emotional headway in its darkest corners. The closing outburst of “Groundwork” is one of the highlights of the entire disc, though it takes a little while to arrive. Later on, the furious “Ripped From the Soil” helps explain the cover imagery, while “Battle of Bloody Creek” follows with just the violence it suggests.
Kuato does not seem to be reinventing any wheels, but they can hardly be accused of merely spinning them either. If modern instrumental rock is your bag, make some space for this one. (Acadian Embassy, kuatoband.com) Daniel Emberg