Ermine

This Halifax trio self-describe their music as "post-prog,” a field that bands like Coheed and Cambria and Cave In call home. Appropriately, the music conjures visions of big men with feathered hair, moustaches, wearing kimonos whilst thrashing crystalline power lines from their Gibsons. Ermine walk the cobbled, narrow path of righteous emoting and technical ecstasy; a path verged by woods hiding dangerous creatures such as the Wank, the Geddy and the Maynard. To their credit they manage to tread the line with nary a wobble in their conviction. Along the way they create pocket epics that stand with a foot in the ’70s and a few toes pointing future-ward. The recording by Laurence Currie and Noah Mintz super-sizes the guitar/bass sparring and sets Matt Belyea’s double-tracked vocals a-soaring. Now they must cast their gaze to the west and do battle with the dragons that lie beyond: too loud and skilled for indie rock and not loud enough for death metal? Stay tuned.