“Under Your Arms I’ll Hide” the opening track on Immanu El’s debut album They’ll Come, They Come is the kind of song that makes you believe fully in a band’s merit. In the epic ten-minute opener, Immanu El establishes their sound combining hushed vocals, a straightforward ascending guitar line and constant use of crescendo/decrescendo. While the aspects of this song are dreadfully prevalent to the post genre, it is the finesse and dexterity in which these commonalities are combined that distinguish the piece from banal to inspired. It is with this humble bravado that They’ll Come, They Come continues, knowingly following these same patterns with the confidence that their aptitude will outweigh any potential triteness.

The following songs, “Home” and “White Seraphs Wild” revert to the lush beginnings of the opening track, analogous to that of Album Leaf or Sigur Ros, firmly rooting their ‘sound’ in the ethereal. “Astral Days” begins to pick up the tempo again, with more delicately picked guitars and the gorgeous vocals of lead singer Claes Strängberg. However, the zenith comes and goes with a fraction of the power of “Under Your Arms I’ll Hide”, potentially alluding to a grand finale at the end of the disc. This never occurs, and the subtly of the final songs are overlooked in anticipation of the brilliance displayed at the onset of the album. This is unfortunate as songs such as “Panda” and “I Know You So Well…” are excellent forays in ambiance.

The band’s panache to place the showpiece at the onset of the album proves somewhat disadvantageous. The succeeding songs are continually outshone, as the subsequent peaks never realize the intensity in which the record began. It may seem a bit brash to patronize a whole album based on song placement. However, for a band already committed to rehashing the stereotypes of post-rock music, why not completely commit to this philosophy? Regardless, Immanu El displays deftness in composition and melody, and is deserved of consideration.

-Thomas Lloyd