For many years post-rock spinoffs have been as ubiquitous and disposable as fag ends, with Explosions In The Sky being used as the yard stick against which the twee count of all other bands since is measured. Fortunately the debut album from Vessels, cryptically entitled ‘White Fields And Open Devices’, blows with dynamic force an encouraging freshness into our post-rock lives. Despite the imagery of white snowy fields suggested by the album title, opener ‘Altered Beast’ begins with contorted noises setting a cluttered urban scene. The instruments carry it forwards with intricate decussating precision and subtle movements as delicate as silver hair. A grand piano cuts the track with dramatic clangs that sets it off to the climactic gush of melodic swirls.

Like all good post-rock records the arrangement of the album is equal to that of the individual tracks. This gives ‘White Fields And Open Devices’ a strong narrative creating vivid imagery painted on a vibrant canvas. And so the thunder clouds clear for the lead into ‘A Hundred Times In Every Direction’ – the first single to be taken from the album – with the twin percussion creating a flowing yet dissipating effect as if the rain were obeying some divine will and beating down in subtle synchronicity. What follows is possibly the most glorious apocalyptic charged blasts of noise to appear on record. Vessels don’t deal in glaring brashness, though, so that the effort given to listening closely is rewarded at every turn. The detail and attention to melody in each dynamic gives ‘White Fields And Open Devices’ a beauty that remains throughout the delicate intricacies and rapturous flings.

Obvious comparisons do leap out occasionally. ‘An Idle Brain And The Devil’s Workshop’ with its eerie samples over flowing builds and drops would slot nicely in ‘Come On Die Younger’, and the occasional reverb drenched crescendo has glimmers of Explosions in the Sky reflecting off it. However, Vessels maintain their own strong identity attained through their constant desire to create original sounds using both old instruments in new ways, or through experimentation with new technology.

‘White Fields And Open Devices’ is a tremendous debut awash with diversity and originality that serves as preface to a clearly industrious future and wholly asserts that Vessels have the talent and creativity to develop and evolve into a formidable entity.