It's hard to imagine this disc coming out of Montreal or, really, any urban habitat. The post-rock instrumentals on f#a#(infinity symbol), distantly related to the sounds made by the Australian band Dirty Three, serve as walking music for a loner hoping to hitch a ride in the middle of the Arizona desert and dealing with the inevitability of another night in coyote territory. Godspeed's swelling array of guitars, bagpipes, cellos, violins, trumpets, and drums is riveted together with an understated hope that is emotionally clutching, often devastating. This core of heavy Midwestern stoicism, saturated with waves of strings, hardcore interludes, and ripples of Morricone guitar, leaves listeners with the understanding that there is no escape from the badlands that surround and permeate us. --Michael Woodring
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