In the name game that is music labeling, the buzzword "emo" get thrown around loosely. It's an abbreviated form of "emotion." If emo were ever used in the right context, The Spirit That Guides Us would should define the title. The Sand, The Barrier (their debut LP reissued from 2001) is a dive into deep, spiritually relevant lyrics and vocals (think Jeremy Enigk) that are aching with every syllable. One of the beautiful things about this album is its diversity. Two tracks feature poetic spoken-word set atop dark soundscapes, two tracks are slow ballads, the rest are driving and hard (although not necessarily of the fast tempo variety), and throughout there is the presence of screamo backup vocals and an overall feeling of intensity and Radioheadish creativity. The album flows in and out of tracks seamlessly, with some nice intricacies. For instance, a spoken poem from track nine flows into the next, so that when track 10 ("When My Eyes Receive Light") is played by itself, it begins with the end words of the poem: "The Spirit is inside us." Somehow, this European import has yet to receive much popularity or press in the States, but if true "emo" ever stood a chance, these guys are a shoe-in.
Editors' ratings — Doug 4/5, David 3/5
Other coverage for this album
Art for the Ears 2002Reviewed by Marco PovervestThis is an obscure band. The majority of the members, I happen to know, is from The Netherlands. Yet the CD gives no information about who's in the band. Nor does it tell where this disc was recorded and who produced it. Besides the song titles and the addresses of the labels there's no printing to be found but only a lot of white space and photos that only give small glimpses of the band. And…Similar sounding releases
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