Records of the Week

GIFTS FROM ENOLA ON MYSPACE | GIFTS FROM ENOLA ON FACEBOOK

As the above artwork suggests, the new offering from Harrisburg, Virginia’s Gifts From Enola is best “viewed” in widescreen. Only five tracks, none of which sit below the 6-minute mark, and all but one of which run approximately 7.5-minutes or longer. Buried partially-off-mic screams, shape-shifting composition structures, and riffs that simply feel heavier than even the crunchiest moments on last year’s stellar From Fathoms – these are the Gifts we’ve come to love bobbing our heads to, seasoned. Gifts From Enola have been a very enjoyable band to watch, from their days of emerging as a post-rock band playing more ambitious riffage than most anyone else in the genre, to today’s utter maturity. Tracks such as “Alagoas” and “Grime and Glass” show Gifts weaving between structured, softer sections and their lauded towers of amps, without lending undue attention to the transitions themselves. Album closer and first-released track “Rearview” – all the way through its final crush – fully conveys the scope of Gifts From Enola‘s new territory. Which isn’t to say they’ve moved their coordinates at all – they’ve just built a mountain atop them. And summited.