Vessels - Helioscope

Leeds-based five-piece Vessels have created a masterpiece with their second album 'Helioscope'. The album was released through Cuckundoo Records on March 7, 2011, and is Vessel's first album in three years and the follow-up to their debut album 'White Fields & Open Devices'. To be honest, the three years were well spent and the wait was well worth it.

The great thing about Vessel's 'Helioscope' is that every track is different (contains many styles) but the album still manages to keep the post-rock sensibility throughout. The post-rock genre has gotten so watered down over the years with every new band sounding like an exact replica of the pioneers of the genre. Post-rock acts today have to remain focused and throw in new styles/techniques to keep the listeners' attention. No one wants to hear the same album twice, and Vessels have succeeded in creating something completely different than their other material.

The opener 'Monoform' takes elements of krautrock and free-form jazz and then takes off on its own path within the last sixty seconds. Bands such as Tortoise and Don Caballero come to mind. 'The Trap' is the only song on the album that resembles anything the band has released before. The scenic melody reminds me of 'Hundred Times In Every Direction' off of 'White Fields & Open Devices'. 'Later Than You Think' reaches post-rock's peak. It is an experimental gem that reminds me of Foals, another UK-based act. The track that stands out the most on 'Helioscope' however, is 'Recur'. This song contains breathy vocals (something rarely heard on the album) and sounds very similar to an early nineties shoegaze/grunge/alternative track. It is a completely new sound for Vessels and it is phenomenal.

'Meatman, Piano Tuner, Prostitute' is as strange as the name itself, but a beautiful sounding strange. The track contains gentle vocals by Brighton-based singer Stuart Warwick and sounds to me like Radiohead and Flying Lotus had twins and named them Mogwai and The Album Leaf. 'Art/Choke' is a very heavy and noisy track while 'All Our Ends' is filled with acoustics and vocoder-driven singing. The closing track 'Spun Infinite' completes the album with choral vocals and its feel is slow and subtle until it eventually fades out.

'Helioscope' is, all in all, a beautiful record. It was produced by the legend, John Congleton (This Will Destroy You, Explosions In The Sky), who has produced some of the most epic sounding recordings and continues to do so. This album is definitely an accomplishment for Vessels and being only their second album, one can only hope for better things to come, and it can't get much better.