Since 1997, Godspeed You! Black Emperor have stood as a singular voice in music, conjuring vast, apocalyptic soundscapes with a blend of mournful strings, wailing guitars and sprawling crescendos. Now their latest release forces us to confront the uncomfortable truth: they were never writing about a hypothetical future - they were documenting the present. Their sprawling epic soundscapes set a blueprint that has inspired legions of imitators, none of whom have managed to capture the singular intensity of the original. Their latest album, named after the February 2024 death toll reported by Gaza’s Health Ministry, is a searing statement in music and ethos, reaffirming their position as not just musicians, but witnesses - serving as a lament for the thousands upon thousands of lives taken and a condemnation of the system that perpetuates genocide.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s latest album is a staggering achievement, journeying through grief, rage, and fragile hope. Tracks like “BABYS IN A THUNDERCLOUD” unfold with their signature dynamic progression - melancholic guitar lines shimmer like mirages, conjuring images of heat-distorted deserts and mushroom clouds in the distance, building to an explosive, cinematic crescendo. The band’s ability to translate visual and emotional imagery through sound is unparalleled. Every note is heaving with purpose, conjuring images of crumbling cities, endless deserts, and quiet resilience in the face of devastation. The music pulls you into its depths and forces you to confront the enormity of its themes, striking a careful balance between despair and triumph. The music mourns, but it also soars. Quieter moments shimmer with an almost otherworldly beauty; loud moments feel both terrifying and awe-inspiring. Listening to the album is like standing in the midst of a storm: overwhelming and humbling, yet somehow restorative.

For those who experience the double LP, side D offers a profound final statement, presenting a continuation of the album’s closing track, untethered from tempo or structure, cycling through cascading noise and slowly shifting chords, serving as a gift to those who still engage with music as a physical, tangible art form - a statement of gratitude and a refusal to conform to a disposable culture.

For over 25 years, this Montreal collective has been creating music that is vast and apocalyptic using components that have remained consistent. Within this consistency lies their genius. They never needed to reinvent themselves, because the world continued careening headfirst into the dystopia they were documenting all along. What might have sounded speculative or even hyperbolic decades ago now feels chillingly prophetic. This album, with its explicit dedication to the victims of the Gaza genocide, underscores just how right they were all the way back in 1997. Their warnings about imperialism, corporate greed, and environmental destruction were never abstractions. Their refusal to participate in the corporate music structure, their commitment to physical media, and their solidarity with the oppressed has only become more vital over time. Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s message has never changed, the world just needed to catch up to it.