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Music Review
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The For Carnation's membership is entwined--overtly or by influence--with probably every postrock band in the U.S. Hailing from Chicago and Louisville, Kentucky--two improbably creative bastions for the slow-mo postrock sound tweakers--the quintet plays deliberately glacial songs that at their most assertive press forward via drummer Scott Goodfriend's big thwacking drive (try "Being Held"). The guitars are all restraint, if they're even playing chords. And the vocals are all hushed musings, dark only because they slump through the melodies amid a forest of sounds and pulses so artfully designed that they build tension but never clump together. The presence of "space echo" (thanks to Michael McMahan) adds even more mystery to the crawly vocals (thanks to Brian McMahan), but what adds the most allure is the profound mix of density and utter openness. Pioneers when they were part of Slint, The For Carnation are still in the vanguard of rock bands defining, redefining, and testing their terrain. --Andrew Bartlett