REVIEW: Let It Eat You For Fun - Upon the Forest Floor
- Noise Leonard
- Apr 14
- 3 min read
The past several years have marked a strange shift in the genre of post-rock. London’s “windmill scene” with groups like BLACK COUNTRY, NEW ROAD urging on a new wave of Gen Z bands to take on traditional post-rock song structures with anxious vocals and lyrics, saxophones and string sections. On top of this, there’s the “rateyourmusic-core” solo artists, combining post-rock with everything from shoegaze to midwest emo - generally influenced by groups like SLINT and SWANS. So in the midst of what seems like a kitchen sink approach on all fronts, it’s nice to hear a debut album that harkens back to second-wave post-rock outfits.
That’s what LET IT EAT YOU FOR FUN’s debut album Upon the Forest Floor is. This album is a one-man project that attempts to push the styles of groups like THIS WILL DESTROY YOU and MOGWAI further. First track A Kiss and a Flight sets the tone straight away, built around these repeating soft and morose piano lines and guitar lines, until about 4 minutes in, it explodes into this overwhelming crescendo. This is contrasted by second track Diary, which is much more of a gradual buildup, to the point you barely notice that the song has even crescendoed until it pulls itself back, with sampled thunder effects, adding to the very dreary atmosphere built up so far.
The longest track here is the third, Clipped Wings, clocking in at about 8 minutes and 30 seconds. It goes through several phases and almost mini-crescendos before the final one that leads into a fade-out; and it’s definitely the most grand-feeling song on the album thus far. There’s a level of ambition in this one that isn’t quite as present in the first two tracks, and while still good pieces, it feels as though they almost serve as preparation for this track.
After this fade-out, we’re met with Delusions of Grandeur, a much more intense, GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR-esque endeavour, with an absolutely crushing lead guitar tone that would fit perfectly on something like their most recent record. It’s worth mentioning that LET IT EAT YOU FOR FUN’s debut EP was more along the lines of math rock, and while the twinkly guitar tones on there have been present on previous tracks, we’ve not seen any of the strange polyrhythms until now. It messes with your head a bit but with the way he plays about with dynamics all across this track, it’s an absolutely thrilling ride, from the heavier start to the conclusion that brings all the little motifs set up throughout the track together. If you could only choose one song to listen to from this album, let it be this.
Track 5, A Deeper Meaning, is another wonderful moment in the album, with an ascending chord progression from a distorted guitar in the crescendo feeling like a ray of light after several more gloomy tracks helps it out a lot. Penultimate track Medicated proves that performer Aaron is still paying attention to the new wave of post-rock artists, with a shoegazey outro almost reminiscent of PARANNOUL, but with classic post-rock sensibilities. Finally, the outro, An Unnerving Path makes sure to wrap things up with a bang, rather than a whimper, with an emotional and cinematic conclusion.
In conclusion, Upon the Forest Floor is very much a love letter to his predecessors while incorporating some more modern stylistic choices. While not reinventing the wheel, it is an engaging listen with some really beautiful passages that many of LET IT EAT YOU FOR FUN’s influences would’ve killed to write.
Score: 7/10
Upon The Forest Floor will be released on 17th April 2026 via self-release.
Words: Noise Leonard
Photos: Let It Eat You For Fun
Comments