Summer Effect Shapes Progressive Instrumental Music

When vocalization became a more common part of mainstream music, instrumentation at times took a backburner. Although vocals are an important artistic component to music, instrumentals can often be the real heart of a piece. With Indonesian band Summer Effect, it’s the sole element.

Their post-rock album, Afterlife, takes instrumentalism to an entirely new level of expression and passion.

Summer Effect — No Vocals Required

Formed in 2012, Afterlife is Summer Effect’s third album. Their progressive sound is one that not only distinguishes them from other instrumental groups, but that will hopefully come to characterize instrumental music for years to come. They’ve really outdone themselves on this one, combining their own talent with that of musician Erdi David.

Album opener “Quiet Company” starts out with a repetitive, acoustic melody and an ominous background that gets more and more prominent as the song progresses. From there it goes straight into a wild, menacing sound, keeping the ever-present eerie feeling with low piano chords and bass guitar. It fades, ending on the same minimalistic acoustic note it began with.

“Beating Heart” has a clean guitar intro that conveys real feeling right from the start. Its use of bells later on provides an interesting touch of sentimentality to the track. “Clouded Minds” is another interesting piece, with its drum and glam guitar intro, and a style that goes from simple to complicated pretty quick. It ends with these heavy, rolling guitar riffs driven by a noticeable underlying passion.

With “Everything Seems Different,” things are… well, different (but in a really interesting way). It has a nostalgic feel to it. Somewhere in the middle a choral accompaniment kicks in, providing the listener with an otherworldly, almost heavenly impression. It eventually speeds up with some quick, rhythmic chords reinforced by energetic, crashing drums before ending on a more subdued style, everything toning down to a satisfying conclusion.

As I’ve said many times before, many different genres have their flagship bands. And while it’s hard to say what success newer bands will have later on, it’s obvious which ones have talent.

Summer Effect definitely has talent, and I don’t think anything could hold them back.

Purchase Afterlife on iTunes now.