In the last year or so, Sweden’s Aerial has supported the likes of Mono, Bell Orchestre, and Arab Strap. It would appear that these 5 young gents have the backing of some of the biggest guns on the instrumental/indie scene, and on this record they show that they’ve got what it takes to support these ‘celebrity’ endorsements and indicate that they may not be playing the supporting role for much longer.

"Heads Gone," the first track on The Sentinel, opens the record with the sound of some strange guitar-string scrapings and scratchings. This dissolves into a field recording of a fireworks display, where the quiet chatter of the crowd slowly melts into some fragile vocal, gently caressed guitar, and what would appear to be synth. The sounds of the fireworks popping and bursting are of particular note (insert EitS joke here), as they foreshadow the musical fireworks that explode later on in the record.

"Heads Gone" segues seamlessly into the spiralling, descending guitars of "My God, It’s Full of Stars." The pretty, echo-laden sound of the duelling guitars recalls a number of other current post-rock darlings, but the intricacy and responsiveness of the playing sets Aerial apart from its peers. The guitars tease and coil around one-another with an organic playfulness that at times feels almost psychic.

Another factor that allows Aerial to stand separate from the current raft of imitators is the sporadic use of vocals. Coming at the ideal intervals to help maintain interest when the singularity of the guitar sound threatens to become overly familiar or tactically deployed to bolster the epic sweep of the tracks, they are often childlike in their simplicity. They sit in the mix like another instrument, and it is their very simplicity which proves to be one of thei band's greatest strengths; I challenge anyone to come away from listening to album highlight "46th Street" without finding themselves humming the central vocal melody (which only appears at two intervals during the near 7-minute length of the track, yet sticks in the mind and just won’t be shaken out).

Sounding full and complete, The Sentinel is a coherent and powerful statement from Aerial, maintaining an epic sweep and vision interspersed with more intimate moments of introspection and calm. While Aerial haven’t torn up the post-rock rule book in any spectacular fashion, they may just have written a new line or two of their own.

-Kris Ilic