The Mirimar Disaster - Volumes EP

Following on from The Mirimar Disaster's eponymous debut, this is an impressive EP. Like Mastodon, they have the ability to attract listeners who own more than just black t-shirts and studded armbands, whilst also keeping the horn-raising die-hards happy. The five tracks on display run both long and short and swing between crushingly heavy and delicately sinister. The riffs are imbued with considerable momentum and the precise but frantic drumming, again reminiscent of Mastodon, sends bursts of gunfire past your ears throughout. That is except during The Town of Empty Sound - featuring Maria Christopher of 27 - which appears from amidst the racket as an oasis of soothing acoustic chill, bringing balance to a well realised and satisfying record. [Austin Tasseltine]