The review wasn't dead, just resting.

In some ways I think the break was for the best, because now instead of writing about records I bought last week I'm writing about records I bought six months ago. Often when listening to something new there's an initial "love affair" period where I listen to it frequently, so in the interests of a fairer take on a record it isn't a bad idea to let it sit for a while before starting to write what I think. I see that as an unintended perk of the hiatus.
Explosions in the Sky are a group of Texans who write instrumental post-rock worthy of Sigur Rós or Mogwai. "Post-rock" sounds kind of silly to me, but it's shorter than listing bands, some of which -- Godspeed You! Black Emperor, for instance -- have somewhat convoluted names. Sub-genre naming conventions aside, though, post-rock is a genre that has appealed to me since I discovered Sigur Rós close to five years ago.
There isn't as much rock here as on Mogwai's Mr. Beast, the guitars and keyboards are clean. The musical phrases are shorter than Sigur Rós, so despite the length of some songs (It's Natural to be Afraid clocks in at 13:27) it isn't as demanding on the attention span as any given record by our Icelandic friends. Often the melody is driven by clean piano while the delayed guitars supply texture, which would make the music sound thin if it weren't for the meaty drumming. There's a fairly substantial dynamic contrast between the parts of songs where the drums are present versus absent, so it can be hard to listen to this album while in an environment with substantial steady background noise (e.g. driving, flying).
The melodic payoff is great; if you like other post-rock, you'll probably like this. The only real criticism here is that Explosions in the Sky don't really do much to differentiate themselves from Mogwai, so if I want to introduce someone to post-rock, Mr. Beast is still my first stop. Explosions' effort shouldn't be overlooked, though.
The Record: All of a Sudden, I Miss Everyone (Explosions in the Sky), 2007
One-line Verdict: Good post-rock.
Standout Tracks: The Birth and Death of the Day, So Long Lonesome