Godspeed You! Black Emperor ''ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!'

The first new recordings from Godspeed You! Black Emperor in a decade, ''ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!' marks a thunderous and meditative return for the Montreal collective. Featuring two monumental 20-minute compositions and a pair of haunting drone pieces, the album embodies the band’s immersive blend of orchestral tension and political urgency. It showcases their ability to evolve long-standing live material—like “Albanian” and “Gamelan,” now titled “Mladic” and “We Drift Like Worried Fire”—into towering sonic statements of resistance and transcendence.

Emerging from hiatus in 2010, the group reignited their incendiary post-rock ethos across months of touring before capturing this material in the studio. Each track builds from stark minimalism into orchestrated upheaval, fusing violins, guitars, drums, and ambient textures into apocalyptic crescendos. The accompanying drones, pressed to a separate 7” in the LP edition, provide contemplative contrast—still, steady, and deeply unsettling. With ''ALLELUJAH! DON'T BEND! ASCEND!', Godspeed You! Black Emperor deliver a record that stares directly into the decay of the modern world and finds catharsis in sonic fire. It’s not just a comeback—it’s a cry of defiance, of mourning, and of collective yearning for something better. A vital release in the band's uncompromising canon.