The Ending Orchestra by Bozoru Bear

For fans of Talk Talk, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Brian Eno, Krautrock, and grand finales of all shapes and sizes, The Ending Orchestra by Bozoru Bear takes us on a walk through the apocalypse, observing our surroundings with deep emotional nuance and serious philosophical restraint. All believable apocalypse narratives contain an air of eerie liminality, here provided by the near-constant warm hum of analog synths in the deep background. However, Bozoru Bear rejects the temptation of overloading our experience with such eeriness, taking each movement of this symphonic work to show us a broad range of complex emotions. At times, they double down on the synths, filling out a choir of warm, distorted, awestruck mechanical voices. At others, post rock guitar work enters the scene, building up ambiguity through suspended chords before opening up into euphoric resolutions. Instead of cynically despairing at the apocalypse or misanthropically cheering at the destruction, we as the observer must acknowledge our powerlessness and even offer up gratitude at this opportunity to witness a day anticipated by our species for thousands of years.