Vessels

Vessels' Helioscope is all about energy and building to an explosive climax. The more I listen, the more the drummer shocks me. He's downright awesome. He hammers and pounds favorably on his high toms. What's most impressive though is how he destroys his cymbals, acting as if they're not a couple hundred dollars each. If you decide to take a peak, definitely listen closely to what he does.

The guitars work seamlessly together. They love to alternatively pick and are peppered with echo, distortion, and heavy delay. So what begins as individual notes in harmony with just each other grows into a mass of individual harmonies and chord harmonies. It takes a little getting used to because overall it's very overwhelming and you don't really hear it much in modern music. But if you're familiar with Explosions In The Sky, then chances are you'll appreciate Vessels' technical work.

Not every song is vocal-less and structureless though. They do have traditional tracks with discernable verses and choruses, but they're few on this nine-track album.

Verdict: 4.2/5. Favorite tracks: Monoform, The Trap, Recur, Later Than You Think, Art/Choke (my favorite track), and All Our Ends.

Best, Jonathan