Space rock is something rare. Several bands play post rock music with science fiction and space themes, but very few of them deliver space music. You might need to travel to the Asteroid Belt to find it in concentrated quantities. musicformessier obviously comes from one of those asteroids, although the two men behind the band may declare otherwise. musicformessier is a post-rock studio project from Gyor, Hungary, that define their music as "acoustic space art".
Technically, the music of musicformessier is post rock and, in keeping with the post rock style, there is no emphasis on solo instruments and no need for vocals. Every instrument streams its music into deep, galaxy-spanning layers of sound. Saturnitical Mercurism is the first full length album by the Hungarian duo through which they deliver a more atmospheric experience, relying on ambiance rather than power.
Before listening to a new album I always look at the album cover and read all the song titles. From the cover to the titles Saturnitical Mercurism expresses exactly what musicformessier attempts to bring us, which is out of this world, somewhere beyond the universe where they try to cross each boundary to let us experience an enjoyable musical journey. Listening to the 9 movements of Saturnitical Mercurism you’ll notice that the duo prefer intensity in few minutes than an explosion in a lot of minutes - most post-rock groups play 8-10 minutes long songs, while musicformessier songs end around 5 min.
The album starts with ‘Symphony of Saturn’, ‘Zero Gravity’ and ‘I Am Messier’ and our space shuttle leaves the world we are used to living in, faces the sky and revolves around Pluto where music has a different sound. What musicformessier deliver is not the classic post-rock; layered guitars and wall of sounds are still here but on top of them there’s an atmospheric environment that is really good. Each track grows smoothly and even when explodes there’s a melodic climax.
‘Jupiter, The Giant’ and ‘Lightyears to Nameless’ have a postrocky style with passages that recall something in between EITS and Mogwai….it’s therefore something good. I like the melancholic mood of ‘The 5 Billionth Waltz’ that works as the perfect soundtrack to a tour among satellites thinking about other worlds and feeling the nostalgia of something you have never experienced. ‘Ursa Minor’ is a track that didn't appeal me, it’s enjoyable but the duo proved that they can do better.
‘Alone on Mars’ and ‘Threnody of Saturn’ are really evocative soundtracks to our journey back from the dreaming space. Especially the closing ‘Threnody of Saturn’ has a relative serenity and works as a comfortable place to stay.
Saturnitical Mercurism fits comfortably into the arena of ambient and atmospheric post rock exactly because it is intended to create ambiance and mood. My suggestion is not to listen its tracks randomly but to experience the journey from the launching to the final falling to fully understand the musicformessier’s music world.
