Yes, Inferno: Yes, Inferno

Yes, Inferno call themselves a progressive instrumental rock band. This is only partially true. Their moody, staccato hard rock is wordless, but it doesn't take us anywhere the interludes on Minus the Bear's Highly Refined Pirates haven't already. However, the band's debut EP shouldn't be dismissed as verse/chorus rock with the vocals down and pretensions up. Album opener "Ellen Page" is a pounding intro track that quits right when it needs to (before the two-minute mark). On "Midnight Murder Highway," drummer Ernst Bredvad and bassist Chris Saenz bring voodoo funk to math rock, crafting a soundtrack for hipsters selling heroin. "Something Along the Skyline" begins a little too methodically, but builds into a swirling theme of heroic melancholy. The piercing guitar tone that ends the tune should have arrived sooner, stayed longer, and carried over into the EP's high point, "Tunnels in London." Here, the band runs laps through a guitar theme, each time pouring on more awesome. Presently, Yes, Inferno are by no means groundbreaking, but they are both deftly competent and taking their musical journey in earnest. This reviewer suggests they spend some months listening to Can and live Television, and then craft a full-length.

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