Colours – Vasa (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

The thought of a prog-leaning instrumental, heavy rock band might induce nightmares of cape wearing keyboard players and 18-day drum solos. Perish the thought. As bands such as Town Portal and The Fierce and The Dead continue to prove, done right, music alone can be just as expressive as any well honed lyric or poetic turn of phrase. If those bands raised an important point, Vasa’s debut album rams the point well and truly home.

In an energetic clash of post-rock muscle and cerebral prog workouts, they weave their way through elegant and eloquent musical landscapes, soaring dynamics and quiet atmospherics, they throw spanners in the works of your minds expectations but never lose a sense of direction and identity. This is powerful stuff, yet never oppressive; it is obvious that Vasa know all too well the difference between mere foot on the throttle showboating and the majesty of byzantine complexities, multi-textured arrangements and tension building musical passages. The result is nothing short of stunning.