For an album that essentially channels Sigur Rós and Mogwai, Noise For Lovers will leave you with a lot of questions. For example, Anaphylaxis played at the Cornerstone Festival, one of the largest Christian rock festivals in North America, which implies that the band is Christian, but post-rockish instrumentals like "A Love Set To Music" or "This Is The Place Where The Dead Help The Living" offer no devotional content -- not that they're obligated to, but what's the point?

Similarly, Anaphylaxis compare themselves to Patsy Cline and have a song called "VFD", which may be a nod to the Lemony Snicket series. This suggests that core band member Jason Coffman (who provides "sample manipulation and programming", and essentially is Anaphylaxis) has a sense of humor, but he's clearly content to amuse himself -- there are no laughs for the audience.

These questions come to mind while listening to Noise For Lovers because there isn't much else going on -- "Wait Here", for example, is like the opening of Sigur Rós's "Svefn-G-Englar" (the part where the music sounds like a glacier moving), but stretched out to ten minutes. Coffman duplicates this feat with vocals on "All Yours".

A few moments of drama and dissonance break through the monotony: "VFD" occasionally comes up with a handful of beats, and there's a point roughly five minutes into "Hopeless" where Coffman transforms Santoski's vocals into a layered choir. Otherwise, Noise For Lovers' sonic vistas are disappointingly unengaging.