Maybe it’s the vast cold expanse, maybe it’s the snow, maybe it’s the meatballs, maybe it’s the Viking heritage, or maybe it’s just something in the water, but whatever it is, Swedish bands seem to love making instrumental music. It’s definitely not true of all Scandinavia, as the number of instrumental acts from Sweden far outweigh those of Denmark, Norway, and Finland. There’s a possibility that Sweden just produce the best Scandinavian instrumental acts, hence their worldwide popularity. September Malevolence, Once We Were, Ellis The Vacuumchild, Ef, Molia Falls, and we’re still only just skimming the surface. Add Malmo’s Scraps of Tape (I am the only person who thought this read Scrapes of Tape the first time around?) and the list becomes even stronger, putting bigger countries to shame.

With their debut release Read Between the Lines At All Times in 2004, Scraps of Tape emerged onto the instrumental music scene as a band showing incredible promise. The album was steeped in emotion at every turn, with a great diversity and subtlety present in each song's creation, and most bands would be hard pressed to deliver a sophomore effort after such a stellar debut. Fortunately, Scraps of Tape isn’t like most bands. Instead of rushing to produce its  next album, the band took its time, completed a few tours, and grew as a band, something that really shows with this new release. This Is A Copy Is This A Copy improves on the debut in every area. It’s got the emotion, the great songwriting, the diversity, the subtlety, the heavy parts, the quieter parts…but the significance is that This Is A Copy…has got more of them. Much more.

"Death As It Should Be" opens the album, and immediately sets a precedent; this album isn’t a band resting on its laurels, it’s the sound of a band moving forward. Heavily distorted guitars come chugging in, before pounding drums and high pitched riffs take over, mixing melody and metal together in an unrelenting assault. It certainly knocks out any pre-conceived notions of Scraps of Tape being "just another post-rock band." It’s also not a one-off track. “How Your Heart Gets Thrown,” “Since All The Birds Are Moving, Shouldn’t We?,” and “Thirteen Thousand” also highlight the bands darker influences, coming across like Upcdownc and We Followed Tigers fighting in a sauna.

Possibly the most pleasing aspect of this album is the subtle nuances that inflect on every song, especially those of the more standard post-rock structure. It’s never particularly one part of a track that stands out over another, a factor which demonstrates Scraps of Tape's incredible talent in songwriting, creating hauntingly beautiful melodies that even the biggest cynic would struggle not to become enraptured in. “Hands In The Air” is a simply stunning track that is capable of making everything in the world seem all right, with guitar harmonies weaving together to create a rich tapestry.

Unlike many an instrumental act, Scraps of Tape isn't scared to use some vocals on this album, and although they are minimally deployed, they bring something else to the table, adding another string to the band's already cluttered bow. Thankfully, the vocal tracks on this album don’t detract from the rest of the album by being...well, horrible. The vocals haven’t been shoehorned into a track unnecessarily to add some clichéd emotional weight, but they fit perfectly within the overall feeling of the album. They’re sung with a meaningful sneer, capturing the listener deep inside: “You leaving me now, it's only one less face to remember” from “Nashville’s Got Hell To Beat” are lyrics that Mike Kinsella and Rivers Cuomo would be proud of. If they use vocals this well, you wouldn’t begrudge them using them more often in the future.

This Is A Copy isn’t something groundbreaking in style or delivery, but that doesn’t stop it sounding fresh by pooling together enough ideas and industry to keep nearly everyone happy. While post-rock is the main genre flowing through, Scraps of Tape happily gather sounds from metal, experimental, jazz, and emo, and then fuse them to create a captivating experience. With the heavyweights of Explosions in the Sky and Do Make Say Think coming up a little short with their new releases, it seems like the ideal time for a new breed of instrumental acts to take up the mantle, and Scraps of Tape are most certainly at the forefront.

-James Ould