Pijn – From Low Beams of Hope (Review)

This is the second album from Pijn, a post-rock/metal band from the UK.

From Low Beams of Hope is a four-track, 45-minute affair that merges elements of post-rock, post-metal, ambient, drone, and doom into an expressive whole. It’s an instrumental release, and should find great appeal with fans of acts such as Mogwai, Briqueville, Explosions in the Sky, Years of Rice & Salt, A Burial at Sea, Russian Circles, Red Sparowes, Pelican, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, etc.

From Low Beams of Hope is adept at crafting immersive soundscapes. Each of the four songs in this record are expressive, layered, and textured. Pijn seem to be good at weaving together various strands, allowing them to build and develop, and then neatly tying each of them off at the appropriate moment for the most effect. Every song offers the listener a world to explore, one that requires the time to take to get to know its nuances fully.

The material is an intricate and evocative exemplar of worldbuilding. Sometimes subtle, sometimes thunderous, it’s always emotive, mood-focused, and impactful. Introspective and reflective, but without becoming maudlin or indulgent, these four songs are cinematic in scope, yet intimate in effect. Enhanced by strings and other instruments that greatly enrich the music’s depth of appeal, From Low Beams of Hope provides an experience that I’m sure many people far and wide will appreciate having.

Pijn’s vision for atmospheric instrumental music is an engaging one.

Favourite Track: A Thousand Tired Lives. On the album’s closer all of Pijn’s ideas, influences, and styles come together in their most perfect realisation.