Vessels - White Fields and Open Devices

Journeying from Leeds to Minnesota in order to record their first full length, five piece Vessels then doubled this distance through the roving passages and epic voyages musically depicted in White Fields and Open Devices. Opener Altered Beast is exhausting enough in itself, winding its way from math to post influences whilst covering a range of emotional ground. Intricate drums and a free roaming vocal line combine to tickle the ear drums before they are full-on assaulted in forthcoming single A Hundred Times In Every Direction, which soars in advancement rather than repetition. However, challenging time signatures and abstruse rhythms throughout are equally weighted with the kind of over-zealous guitar tremolos and delay practiced by the likes of Explosions In The Sky. Additional layers of electronic drums beats and samples also occasionally detract from the more original instances of the record, slightly dating what is otherwise a progressive delivery. [Emma Smith]