This Will Destroy You

Live in Reykjavik, Iceland (Magic Bullet)

Proffering wordless communication in a manner that’s more orchestral than classic rock, San Marcos’ This Will Destroy You eschews solos and bears down on intense waves of sound on this old-fashioned double-live LP. “Communal Blood” and “Glass Realms” could be erupting from a symphony instead of four indie rock musicians, drums evoking timpani and gongs and guitars taking on timbres more in line with massive string sections than amplified instruments. Meanwhile, “A Three-Legged Workhorse,” “There Are Some Remedies Worse Than the Disease,” and the ironically titled “Quiet” flow with a sense of dynamics borrowed from alternative rock, though the journey from tender to tremendous is more subtle than sudden. The band’s at its best on 11-minute-plus tracks “Little Smoke” and “The Mighty Rio Grande,” organic vistas of sonic intensity. After these back-to-back behemoths, “Threads” brings the show to a close with a relatively gentler ride into the Arctic sunset.

***.5

This article appears in November 29 • 2013.

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Michael Toland started writing about music in 1988 on the Gulf Coast, moved to Austin in early 1991, and has inflicted bylines upon the corporeal and digital pages of Pop Culture Press, The Big Takeover, Blurt, Amplifier, Austin.citysearch, the Austin American Statesman, Goldmine, Sleazegrinder, Rock & Roll Globe, High Bias, FHT Music Notes, and, since 2011, The Austin Chronicle.