10

Refusing To Be Confined

Bringing a touch of the sheer escapist beauty of Sigor Ros, Vessels have hit the ground running. Stealing some early Genesis eccentricity and moulding the pair together, binded by a rough industrialised energy that spectacularly stuns and intrigues. Thrifty with their vocal offerings, the Leeds based band rely instead on the guidance of a guitar heavy force to lead the tracks, earning them comparisons to Muse minus the conspiracy theories, and making for a sound that is impossible to contain and stunningly immense.

For some people size does not matter, for Vessels it is a major player where there appears to be only one rule; the bigger the better. Sounding like a trapped animal trying to flee, ‘White Fields And Open Devices’ is an album that is begging to be liberated as opener ‘Altered Beast’ steadily breaks down the walls before ‘A Hundred Times In Every Direction’ explodes and unleashes the beast within Vessels confines. From here in the Leeds five-piece construct an avalanche of atmospherics as an eclectic eruption takes hold from the venomous tinge of ‘A Hundred Time In Every Direction’ to the dark, military menace of ‘Trois Heures’ in all its industrial finery as it bursts with vibrancy. This is a band that refuse to become predictable, that refuse to have their sound dictated, making for an exhilaratingly mind blowing ride that exculpates more with each track that is offered.

For all their colossal sound, Vessels also know how to do things simply as the purity and innocence of ‘Walking Through Walls’ instantly captures through a soft acoustic guitar and tender vocals, both helping to ease away the bleak sentiment of the track and suggesting that there is nothing Vessels can not triumph at. Indeed as the piano led ‘Yuki’ teasingly combusts with vitality, Vessels have carved out their niche, creating an album that will dazzle and amaze leaving only the expansive voyage of ‘Wave Those Arms, Airman’ to bring the curtain down.

Nothing is as it seems in Vessels’ world, one minute the Leeds band may gently clasp you by the hand and take you on a soaring ride of tranquillity, the next minute they’ve ripped your ears off and have proceeded to use a nail gun to trample them into the floor, it’s a rollercoaster ride curated by Jekyll and Hyde and bizarrely it will have you on your hands and knees pleading for one more go.