The hands of God

Imagine a musical explosion – a synth and delicate guitars set to a fuse, a slow and pulsing bassline burning, and then a musical burst filling your senses, scattering the limits of sonic possibilities in all directions.

Born of two brothers who had been heavily influenced by dance, rock and metal, God is an Astronaut produced The End is a Beginning in 2003, unaware of how the sound might evolve and snow ball over time.

“A lot of bands say this and it’s untrue, but we can definitely say when we started, we didn’t intend to be a post-rock band – now we know about the whole post-rock scene and have checked them all out, but back then we really hadn’t that idea in our heads” they say.

Though being labeled as post-rock is something God is an Astronaut have had to contend with, they’ve seemed to concern themselves with challenging all listeners by constantly innovating and surprising.

“I think the new album is going to push people’s imaginations as regards to what they think of post-rock…It’s a big huge hybrid again, its probably closer to our earlier material” according to the band.

But how did the sequenced drums and synths of the first album evolve to what now has become one of the most intense and inspiring live shows around.

They recruited a drummer: “Our first drummer, he worked out ok and he was with us for a while.” However it was the departure of the first drummer before the Oxegen festival that prompted the call to an old friend, Lloyd Hanney, to step in.

“I had a month to learn the stuff and rehearse before Oxegen, so I was pretty nervous,” says Lloyd.
However, that month of preparation produced a cohesiveness and an impact which simply blew away audiences at Oxegen, as God is an Astronaut smashed their way into people’s consciousness as a formidable and possibly unrivaled live act.

From that point on there was no looking back: “We’re really happy with the setup we have no, we’re all reliable, we know what we’re doing and we all get on well.”

However hearing God is an Astronaut live it is difficult to say they sound like a band simply getting on well. They play off each other brilliantly - they have a deep understanding, yet push the music into what could almost be described as a state of conflict. The pounding rhythm section and monstrous bass lines iced with a wall of sound emanating from guitarist and songwriter Torsten Kinsella.

It was live, standing in Cork’s Cyprus avenue that I first heard material from the new album. I was spellbound at its power, delighted at its faithfulness to the God is an Astronaut template, yet awe-stricken at its freshness.

However it is only on listening to the album that you can fully realize how this band have built and expanded from the sound they cemented into people’s minds with 2005’s All is Violent, All is Bright and 2007’s Far From Refuge.

“Sonically I think its our best album. Far from refuge didn’t get the most positive reviews, and we’ve taken people’s comments into consideration, so people may find it more along the lines of “All is Violent”, but it can stand up on its own and be judged on its merits” says Torsten.

God Is An Astronaut produce an original sound, and are a straight-talking, hard-hitting independent band. They’ll excite and captivate you with a studio album, yet push your expectations of what a live rock performance can be.