[metalsonata]

I think most people would say Ash Borer is 'atmospheric black metal--' and since it's commonly inferred that 'atmospheric sludge metal' = 'post-metal' then I think it's totally reasonable to call something like Ash Borer post-metal as well--it's just post-metal with a blackened edge to it. 
 
And yep, post-rock is pretty hard to define. If pressed, I have a sort of go-to definition for it that I'll use when trying to describe it to others: the use of traditional rock instruments for non-rock purposes, generally textural. Usually it's got strong ambient, progressive, and shoegaze elements to it, and frequently dabbles in post-hardcore, jazz, and chamber music. 

 

[ferday]

blackened post metal, i like that
 
on that note, post rock fans should check out swans latest, the seer
devastating post-noise and definitely blackened, probably their best album ever (but swans are only for some, that's for sure)

 

[gmoney80]

huge post rock fan here basically anything on the mylene sheath label which include:

Caspian, beware of safety, gifts from enola, if these trees could talk, giants. Post metal is also a favorite of mine but others to check out would be: explosions, gybe, isis, black tusk, mono, mogwai, god is an astronaut, pelican, red sparrowes, russian circles, this will destroy you, windmills by the ocean, unwed sailor and if you can get your hands on it the samuel jackson 5.

 

[metalsonata]

Seconding The Seer recommendation. One of the most powerful albums I've heard this year, and by far the most uncompromising. If you really are struggling with the first disk, give the second a try--it's a bit more user friendly.

 

[fishbone]

Ah glad to see a Post-Rock thread, count me in the great family of post-rock head-fier \o/.
I'm going to dig The Sheer, thanks guys
 
Actually listening the Junius. Have some post-rock elements in their earlier albums, the new one "Reports From The Threshold of Death" is clearly a Deftones-Like. I recommend to check "The Martyrdom of A Catastrophist" and "Junius"
 

 
Have fun !

 

[Jamesy1969]

I personally think that genre-names have become almost meaningless these days as music crosses over, genre upon genre: pigeon-holing was only ever useful for magazines to describe what a band sounded like!
 
Some bands are so difficult to pigeon-hole that they get stuffed in with a "post-rock" label.
 
For example, Swans are now "post-rock"? They were always lumped together with the "industrial/experimental" guys. Perhaps they now have a genre-name that suits them?
 
Anyway, "The Seer" is a great album but definitely a mood-dependant one. The first time I listened I thought "Meh, give me "Children of God" anyday". The second time, I totally zoned out and got lost in it.
 
One band that sometimes gets described as "post-rock" which I maybe, kind-of, sorta, almost agree with is And So I Watch You From Afar. They are basically a modern (almost totally) instrumental rock band that push some boundaries, so yeah, that would perhaps be my definition of "post-rock".
 
Oh and they totally fcuking kill!

Try "Set Guitars to Kill" from their first album...

 

[fishbone]

Ye ASIWYFA are very good, very explosive band. I like them a lot .
 
For me Post-rock shares the same scheme as prog-rock, slow start to set the atmosphere of the song, it's where it is driving you out of this world, letting you dream of something else. And then the long way back to your mind start when the music is exploding. I feel this when I'm listening to Post-rock.
Obviously Post-rock bands uses a tons of reverb/delay and technics like tremolo in their music to put this atmosphere, I think it's where post-rock stands out from standard rock music.
 
This is the example I give for someone who don't know what Post-rock is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNtJSYTC7kk
 
What's yours ?

 

[Jamesy1969]

Quote:

Ye ASIWYFA are very good, very explosive band. I like them a lot .
 
For me Post-rock shares the same scheme as prog-rock, slow start to set the atmosphere of the song, it's where it is driving you out of this world, letting you dream of something else. And then the long way back to your mind start when the music is exploding. I feel this when I'm listening to Post-rock.
Obviously Post-rock bands uses a tons of reverb/delay and technics like tremolo in their music to put this atmosphere, I think it's where post-rock stands out from standard rock music.
 
This is the example I give for someone who don't know what Post-rock is : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kNtJSYTC7kk
 
What's yours ?

 
Despite listening to a lot of "post-rock" bands, I'm not sure I can even define what it is!
 
A wiki definition states "Post-rock is a subgenre of rock music characterized by the influence and use of instruments commonly associated with rock, but using rhythms and "guitars as facilitators of timbre and textures" not traditionally found in rock"
 
I quite like that, but if it defines anything as post-rock that makes guitars not sound like guitars then that would include Hendrix, Page, Thurston Moore, Kevin Shields, J Mascis etc etc
 
If that theory holds water, then my ultimate example would be
 

 
I would say that post-rock and "shoe-gazing" have a lot of crossover!

 

[metalsonata]

There's certainly a lot of crossover between a genre like shoegaze and post-rock, but I'd still consider them to be two distinct genres. After all, I would say that pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine and other 'old-school' shoegaze acts like Slowdive and Ride have very little in common with what we'd generally consider to be post-rock, and I think shoegaze's origin comes from a totally different place: the noise rock of the 80's. Ultimately, I would say that shoegaze is all about electronic instrument distortion and effects--while this can be an element in post-rock, it by no means has to be, even if post-rock generally leans toward the same 'wall-of-sound' style that shoegaze does. 

 

[Jamesy1969]

Quote:

There's certainly a lot of crossover between a genre like shoegaze and post-rock, but I'd still consider them to be two distinct genres. After all, I would say that pre-Loveless My Bloody Valentine and other 'old-school' shoegaze acts like Slowdive and Ride have very little in common with what we'd generally consider to be post-rock, and I think shoegaze's origin comes from a totally different place: the noise rock of the 80's. Ultimately, I would say that shoegaze is all about electronic instrument distortion and effects--while this can be an element in post-rock, it by no means has to be, even if post-rock generally leans toward the same 'wall-of-sound' style that shoegaze does. 

 
I almost entirely agree with you mate: just trying to point out just how difficult "post-rock" is to actually define.

 

[metalsonata]

You know what would be 'fun?' If we group-sourced a new definition of post-rock that actually works for us all, post it to Wikipedia, and see if it sticks. (Yep, I'm a nerd.)

 

[ferday]

Quote:

 
I almost entirely agree with you mate: just trying to point out just how difficult "post-rock" is to actually define.

post rock to me is often more of a "feeling" to the music than an actual style, or genre based classification.  the "rise, fall, rise again" attitude of the songs, epic / message based scope, and unique use of rock instrumentation all contribute to this.  i would classify certain releases in chamber music, metal, punk, pop, electronic, even country as "post rock" just based on the feeling i get while listening.  really long band names or song titles don't seem to hurt either
 
that said...there is certainly some genre defining post rock out there, like GY!BE and EiTS...etc.

 

[metalsonata]

I sort of agree with this, but I think there are still general rules that can be applied fairly evenly across most post-rock (or even post-metal, for that matter) bands that make them distinct from other musical genres. For example, the abandonment of chorus-verse-chorus (or whatever) structure, the way tracks evolve into a climax (or multiple climaxes) based on repeated note structures that usually go through key shifts as the song progresses, the way vocals are usually soft, buried in the mix, and are practically an 'instrument' themselves, (which, fair enough, is pretty common in dream pop as well), etc.
Quote:

post rock to me is often more of a "feeling" to the music than an actual style, or genre based classification.  the "rise, fall, rise again" attitude of the songs, epic / message based scope, and unique use of rock instrumentation all contribute to this.  i would classify certain releases in chamber music, metal, punk, pop, electronic, even country as "post rock" just based on the feeling i get while listening.  really long band names or song titles don't seem to hurt either
 
that said...there is certainly some genre defining post rock out there, like GY!BE and EiTS...etc.

 

[ferday]

Quote:

I sort of agree with this, but I think there are still general rules that can be applied fairly evenly across most post-rock (or even post-metal, for that matter) bands that make them distinct from other musical genres. For example, the abandonment of chorus-verse-chorus (or whatever) structure, the way tracks evolve into a climax (or multiple climaxes) based on repeated note structures that usually go through key shifts as the song progresses, the way vocals are usually soft, buried in the mix, and are practically an 'instrument' themselves, (which, fair enough, is pretty common in dream pop as well), etc.

that's kind of what i was trying to say...but most of those things to me are based on the feeling of the music rather than technical aspects of the music.  but yeah, i think you probably could turn those into quantitative descriptions...thinking about it, so much modern music is a mix of so many different styles that it's hard to categorize it.  one of my favorite albums of this year is Ash Borer, Cold of Ages....this is a "black metal" album and most of the mainstream will only view it as such, but i consider it as if it was a post rock (post metal, whatever LOL) work.  or Swans, as mentioned above...their older work is often formless noise and industrial madness, their 90's work (under Angels of Light) is post-country, and their last 2 albums (as Swans again) are to me, solid post rock.
 
the only problem with post rock as a specific genre (as opposed to say, top 40 pop) is the boundaries are very blurry, and nearly every genre of music has albums that are at the least post rock influenced.  that's why i mentioned GY!BE or EiTS, those bands are definitively post rock in every sense of the word and probably a great place to start with any definition
 
it's fun to think about....but then again i'm a nerd too

 

[fishbone]

Quote:

post rock to me is often more of a "feeling" to the music than an actual style, or genre based classification.  the "rise, fall, rise again" attitude of the songs, epic / message based scope, and unique use of rock instrumentation all contribute to this.  i would classify certain releases in chamber music, metal, punk, pop, electronic, even country as "post rock" just based on the feeling i get while listening.  really long band names or song titles don't seem to hurt either
 
that said...there is certainly some genre defining post rock out there, like GY!BE and EiTS...etc.

 
That's my definition of Post-rock too but you can describe this feeling or the atmosphere behind with technics and writing in your song.
But instead of trying to put a definition on a label, we should share our most beloved bands !
By the way, all the sub-genres labeled with Post-something are the most-abused terms in the last 10 years. Along with emo and screamo which are, to my knowledge, sub-genres that completely changed because of bands wanting to fit in a "popular" current (or to sound bad-ass for their friends... ) or because we don't know which label to put.