adg211288 Iecava is a second album release from instrumental post-rock act Khuda, though on this release I personally feel they touch on progressive rock as well. The album has eight tracks all of which flow together pretty well to make Iecava one big musically journey. Well not that big, the album is only around 35 minutes in length, but it’s certainly a case of quality over quantity on this one.

The instrumental work of the band is pretty experimental in nature, bordering on the progressive, but is quite relaxing to sit back and just take it in. ‘Mesmerising’ is the word I’d use to describe the band’s sound actually. Post-rock by nature isn’t exactly the most ‘rocking’ of genres as far as rock music goes, so there’ll be no banging your head to Khuda’s music, although as they show in tracks such as Boreas, they do know how to heavy it up with some riffs that showcases some metal leanings. Instead this is music that you just need to absorb and take as what it is – a musical art form.

With enough twists and turns to keep it interesting in its relatively short length, Khuda has produced a quite refreshing instrumental album. There are no individual highlights on Iecava per se, because it’s an album that I feel loses its atmosphere if you try to break it up at all, requiring to be taken in a single hit (seeing as it’s not that long, that’s not a difficult task), then it becomes one big highlight.

Iecava is an impressive release from Khuda and based on it I fully expect they’ll be able to continue to deliver material of equal or even better quality for future efforts. A highly recommended album for fans of instrumental music, and more especially post and progressive rock.

(Originally written for Heavy Metal Haven, scored at 8.4/10)