About a month ago, Appleseed Cast put out a post-emo masterpiece (The Fleeting Light of Impermanence, which is about the most post-emo album title any band could dream into existence). It is their best album, their best starting place and a monumental achievement for a band 21 years into their existence. No artist has any business doing their best work this late into the game.
But as you’ll find with the following playlists, Appleseed Cast has managed to get better with almost every album. At worst, they’ve stagnated between releases, but it’s mostly been a steady improvement, refinement of sound.
I’m presenting the below playlists in chronological order, but if you aren’t a resilient type, I’d recommend listening to them in reverse chronological order to see if you’re into it.
The Fleeting Light should be the starting place regardless, though, and it requires no playlist to trim the fat. It’s perfect.
Appleseed Cast – Mare Owl (a combination of Mare Vitalis and Low Level Owl Vol. 1 and 2)
The Low Level Owl albums are probably still Appleseed Casts’ best known work and the last of their work firmly set in the emo sector of post-emo. Melody is often an afterthought to emotion. Tortured screams serve as a stand-in for singing at many points. Owl came out in a two album set that was considered a breakthrough for the band, but most of what they do there is exactly the same kind of highly competent emo they were doing on Mare Vitalis before it.
Most of what is special on these albums, they refine later, which is how I was able to trim 2.5 hours of material down to 39 minutes without missing anything. For those who prefer emo in its purist form, this will still be the height of the band’s powers. For the rest of us, this is really damn good but it’s more something we put on when the mood strikes us because Appleseed really comes into their own over the next two decades.
Appleseed Cast – Two Peregrines (a combination of Two Conversations and Peregrine)
They lean more into vocal melody starting with Two Conversations and really explode into it with Peregrine. Based on how much higher the vocals are in the mix, and how much cleaner the mix itself is on the whole, it’s reasonable to assume (lead singer) Christopher Crisci gained increased confidence in his singing. Look no further to the early banger “Fight Song” on Two Conversations to witness Crisci belting out in a way he never had in the past.
As a band that could verge on downright instrumental in the past, Appleseed Cast was always competent as musicians. I’m not sure if they got better, exactly, between albums but on Peregrine especially, the arrangements border on cinematic.
Appleseed Cast – Middle Sagarmatha Ritual (a combination of Sagarmatha and Middle States and Illumination Ritual)
The groundwork for this year’s masterpiece starts with Sagarmatha and nearly culminates with Illumination Ritual. Sag sounds downright adult, which is maybe not something I would accuse the band of previously if only due to their very emo-core lyrics. It’s just relentlessly uneven.
Illumination, on the other hand, has some of the band’s best songs but just barely fails to carry the momentum through the middle of the album. And that’s okay. That’s what playlists are for, and the songs I’ve picked from this album are equal to anything on Fleeting Light.
It would have been fair to expect the band to peak right here. That they got even better after not recording anything new for six years is mind bending. I’ve described them as At The Drive-In meets Mogwai meets Sunny Day Real Estate. At their best, and this would qualify, they’re the best parts of each.