8 reviews for Sagarmatha

1. 

   Tony D. Piroli – August 8, 2025

   Old Cosmic new Motor
   Ok all you old Prog Rockers who think that it is all over I would suggest that you get this ALBUM and hang on for dear life as it is a journey back in time with a sonic tone of the future. I have never heard of this group just happen to be in one of many old record stores I visit and it was on the turntable and I was just in total shock at the sonic purity of this group to take me backwards and forward.Yes this review maybe strange but you should always have your ears open to something new that keeps your orginal loves alive!!!!! From ELP to Triumvirat, Genesis, Yes, Rick Wakeman, Deodato, Kraftwerks, and many many more…….

2. 

   Amanda W. – August 8, 2025

   Great Album
   I wanted an Appleseed Cast album but wasn’t sure of which one to get. Got some brief listens to various songs on different albums but this one won.If you’re looking for a new band to try out, this may be the one.I’d say they’re in the same musical grouping as Explosions in the Sky, which is one of my favorite bands of all time.

3. 

   IRate – August 8, 2025

   Logical limits
   Electronic embellishments aside, the group struggles to say anything meaningful that hasn’t been reiterated already, albeit in their typical lushly produced way.

4. 

   Sylo – August 8, 2025

   Sagarmatha: The Nepalese name for Mount Everest
   I certainly hope they don’t believe they’ve reached their peak. If their album title says anything I think we can assume they tried to make this the best record to date. With a discography like theirs its a tough order to fill and its hard not to expect to be blown away each and every time and yet it’s what they’ve been doing as a band since their inception.Sagarmatha is another step in this journey through various soundscapes and while Peregrine and Two Conversations told more coherant stories Sagarmatha is probably their most abstract work since Low Level Owl. In many ways it shares alot of things in common with that incredible two volume work they released not too long ago. An emphasis on instrumentals returns the band to its love for the long slow build up. Picking off notes that compose brilliant melodies that build on themselves and on eachother.”As the little things go” opens the record without the need for a soft introduction. Instead they get right into the thick of their dense layered sound right from the start. What the song lacks in distinction it makes up as a whole work that manages to blend all of the different elements together until the final two minutes where Vocals are introduced just as your mind is tempted to wander. They grab you and they are so inviting they leave you wanting more but you realize its just enough.As if to satiate this sudden need for vocals the next track,”A Bright Light”, plays a little more traditionally or so you think. Yes its a classic Appleseed Cast track but the hook is what your not going to see coming. In no way should it be considered a hook but the crashing guitars manage to turn into something they try so hard not to be. The song is almost at war with itself and I mean that as a compliment.Another aspect your are sure to notice is the smooth sounding vocals. Christopher Crisci lets his vocals take a back seat to the prominent melodies on the record. Only introduced to enhance never made to take center stage. In Peregrine he would wail if necessary but on Sagarmatha the only tone needed is the soft spoken nature of his lyrics lulled out smoothly to the few tracks that even have vocals at all.The instrumentals could have used a little more composition and little less repetition but as it goes it all somehow finds its way in the end. “The Road West” introduces a style we’ve never heard from the Cast before and its probably the one I enjoyed the most.I could go into detail on every track but it would only take away from the abstract nature of what the band is trying to capture on this record. I don’t think it manages to top LLO or their past two efforts but like every other Appleseed Cast record it does stand on its own as its own beast. If theirs anything that dissapoints its the nature of the title and the album art work. Nothing about it seems to be cohessive either in message or tone. Perhaps that was intentional but it leaves me cold and seems thrown together. Luckily the music doesn’t so any long time fans should take this journey and make up their own minds.

5. 

   Nicole Adams – August 8, 2025

   Good Buy!
   Bought this for my husband and it’s fantastic. The artwork is beautiful and it sounds great

6. 

   A. Kohler – August 8, 2025

   I’ve waited for so long…
   Fair warning – this is my favorite band, so forget journalistic integrity or unbiased opinion. That’s the way these things work, you should be used to it if you watch the news at all. So for the simple, unbiased review, enjoy – “The Appleseed Cast have crafted a beautiful patchwork of songs that could be described as mostly instrumental post-rock, with a hint of grown up emo – if there is such a thing – with Sagarmatha. The vocals get lost in the guitars and simply melt into the music. Sagarmatha is best experienced with a set of headphones, an open mind and closed eyes.”OK, now comes the biased, sentimental review…I can’t hold it back – this album is phenomenal, like Dark Side of the Moon or Low Level Owl or Clarity or EndSerenading or Give Up or American Football or any other highly touted, unbelievably good album you can think of. Obviously I may be a little over exuberant since I obviously dig spaced-out, emo-tinged rock and roll. If that’s your thing, then this is your new favorite album. If not, I would still give it a listen; you’ll probably enjoy it.I’ve been waiting a long time for this album. It took a week to get it in the mail. But beyond the USPS, I’ve been waiting for this ever since the end of Low Level Owl. I know bands grow and change and put out different sounding records – Two Conversations and Peregrine were equally awesome in their own rights – and I know bands hate to try and make “another ___” when it comes to their successful albums, but you can’t help but listen to Low Level Owl and simply want more. No one else can do the whole “post-rock” instrumental thing without being “post-rock” better than The Appleseed Cast. Throwing in the hints of emo just make it that much better.The majority of the album is instrumental, which plays right into The Appleseed Cast’s greatest strength. They have an uncanny ability, like Explosions in the Sky, to create masterfully crafted atmospheric and enveloping melodies and rifts. Maybe a lot of people think that the biggest reason for their talent can be credited to studio trickery or the genius of Ed Rose. I know some people find the band boring and dull. But if you have an ounce of admiration for this band or enjoy their music or sound at all and you see them live, you instantly realize that The Appleseed Cast, with Chris and Aaron at the helm, can craft beautiful, intricate, moving rock and roll songs, simply because they are that gifted. It’s really not overly important who is playing bass or drums or turning the knobs.That is by no means a knock of Josh or Marc or Jr. or John or Dustin or anyone else that has ever picked up the bass or set behind the kit for the band, they have all played a vital part in the band and have helped craft their sound over the years. But The Appleseed Cast is Chris and Aaron. No matter how you look at it, the beauty of their music is the lush, thick, dreamy and raw guitar sounds that get layered and melted into often amazing drum work and always overlooked bass lines.Chris’s vocals sound more lost than ever before in Sagarmatha. Almost totally gone are the hints of pop that crept through in Mare Vitalis and Peregrine and were prevalent in Two Conversations. Sagarmatha feels more like the sound and mood of Low Level Owl mixed with some of the emotion from The End of the Rings Wars and Mare Vitalis. There’s just an overwhelming sense of release to the music, like leaning back in a rocking chair on the front porch and letting out a deep and well deserved sigh after a long day as the sun sets behind the mountain and the sky turns all orange and red and yellow and blue, just before it gets dark and all the stars come out.The first 3 songs clock in at over 23 minutes and there are hardly any vocals to be heard throughout each song. It sounds like they recorded “Sunset Drama King” during the Mare Vitalis sessions, or “Steps and Numbers” just after “The Clock and the Storm.” There’s a melding of their sounds throughout the years, like this is the pinnacle of what they can accomplish as a band. And it just might be their best album, even better than Low Level Owl.”The Summer Before” sounds like the recorded “Forever Longing the Golden Sunset” during the Low Level Owl sessions; it’s the closest thing to straightforward pop/rock and roll that you’ll get on the album. “Raise the Sails” and “South Con” are haunting and beautiful; like a sunset or the waves; and really push the boundaries of anything the band has ever done before, melding the instrumental aspect of the band with the emo and the rock and roll aspect, kind of like rolling up “Room and Gardens,” “February” and “Blind Man’s Arrow” all into one.”An Army of Fireflies” is one of the best songs I have ever heard.So basically, as a recap, the first half of the album (As the Little Things Go, A Bright Light, The Road West and The Summer Before) is more instrumental in the vein of Low Level Owl with a dash of rock and roll from Peregrine or Mare Vitalis thrown in. “One Reminder, An Empty Room,” a very sparse and beautiful instrumental, divides the album perfectly. The Last half (Raise the Sails, Like a Locust [Shake Hands With The Dead], South Col and An Army of Fireflies) is more progressive than the first half and really shows off a melding of Low Level Owl and Peregrine that breeds a new sound that shows that the band still had a little bit of growing to do before calling it quits.This is The Appleseed Casts last album. They have said that they will go on tour once more and then they will break up. It’s sad to see them go. They have been one of the most overlooked, underrated bands of this whole “indie” or “underground” or “emo” or whatever you want to call it scene. Simply put, they are one of music’s best-kept secrets.Sagarmatha is the best release so far in 2009, that’s a biased and unbiased opinion. The unbiased portion of me says this will be topped this year, it’s only February, but it will be in many top 10s. The biased part of me says that Sagarmatha is one of the best albums in the past 10 years and may go down as the bands best.

7. 

   FlexBuffneck – August 8, 2025

   One of their best
   Honestly one of their best albums. I wish the vocals would’ve been a little more prominent (ala Low Level Owl/Two Conversations/Peregrine), but it didn’t ruin the album. Musically it is a journey and the songs seem to get better with age. A must buy for any fan new to the Appleseed Cast.

8. 

   K〜 – August 8, 2025

   彼等の過去の作品を聴いていないので、本作を聴いてのレビューになります。初期の作品ではエモ的な要素があったらしいですが、本作を聴く限り、そういう要素は殆どありません。ポストロックと形容しても良いほどのアルバムとなってます。前半３曲は７分くらいの曲が続きほぼインストです。M4でようやくVo主体の曲ですが、声は加工されてる感じで、声も楽器の一部と化してる感じです。そのあとの曲も基本は変わらず、インスト主体で反復するリズムに雰囲気のある楽曲が続きます。　でも、これといった曲はないかもしれません。アルバムトータルで評価する作品で、流れや雰囲気を楽しむには良いかも個人的にはノスタルジックな気分に浸れるアルバムだと思います。