This Will Destroy You

This Will Destroy You

Proffering wordless communication in a manner that's more orchestral than classic rock, San Marcos' This Will Destroy You eschews solos and bears down on intense waves of sound on this old-fashioned double-live LP. "Communal Blood" and "Glass Realms" could be erupting from a symphony instead of four indie rock musicians, drums evoking timpani and gongs and guitars taking on timbres more in line with massive string sections than amplified instruments. Meanwhile, "A Three-Legged Workhorse," "There Are Some Remedies Worse Than the Disease," and the ironically titled "Quiet" flow with a sense of dynamics borrowed from alternative rock, though the journey from tender to tremendous is more subtle than sudden. The band's at its best on 11-minute-plus tracks "Little Smoke" and "The Mighty Rio Grande," organic vistas of sonic intensity. After these back-to-back behemoths, "Threads" brings the show to a close with a relatively gentler ride into the Arctic sunset.