Megafaun- Heretofore | Album Review

Story by Dan Stier 

| Published Sep 21, 2010

After the disappointments I had with Megafaun’s: Gather, Form & Fly, I was really looking forward to seeing improvement in their new record Heretofore. Sadly enough there was no such improvement. Now do not get me wrong, this is still a great album to jam to in your car, but as far as praise goes, do not expect me to give much.

The album opens with the title track Heretofore. Right away you can tell the album will have much of the same musicality and sound. The folky guitar rifts, though generic and fun, you can easily tell this becomes Megafaun’s aim throughout the album. By the way, the record is only six songs long.

Each song brings great vocals, most of all in tracks Heretofore and Eagle. However, it seems the lyrics come second to the light folk sound that Megafaun executes rather well.

One thing you become accustomed to, is the somewhat random break-downs in almost every song. In the song Comprovisation for Connor Pass, the entire song is intermittent with these break-downs and strange chords that sometimes appear from nowhere.

There are random synth effects that come through in about every song. It does not do much, but make you think on why they are even there. As far as really cool synth hooks and melodies, do not look for them here.

When you boil it down, it’s short, sweet, and somewhat simple. It is very doubtful that this album will hit the number one spot, but that is okay. It is a half-hour jam session, and a good listen, just not the best.