I have spoken before about the two major camps post rock. On the one hand, you have the cinematic climax chasers like Mogwai, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and Explosions in the Sky. These are the thrill seekers, the masters of bombast and heart wrenching emoting. On the other, you have a more measured, cerebral approach, utilized by bands like Tortoise, Collections of Colonies of Bees, and Do Make Say Think. These groups are closer to architects than artists, but that doesn’t mean their works are any leas awe inspiring. After all, the Sistine Chapel isn’t notable for the ceiling alone. These groups get most of their affect not from crescendo and decrescendo, but from construction and deconstruction.

And Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn is a masterful example of that sort of building and tearing down. Elements are added, taken away, and reinserted in an altered form until it collapses on itself (they and CoCoB play the same game of Jenga). And while there’s the occasional squelch of high-gained guitar, DMST utilize jazz textures extensively. The drums shuffle and skitter more often than they pound and crash. The bass walks along steady melodies instead of sticking to root notes (not that there are many chord progressions here). Some horns even join in on the fun on the second side. Even when things get loud, they avoid playing like a “rock” band, tending more towards crescendoes via chaos than through crescendo alone. All that isn’t to say this is a fusion record: their influences are more varied than jazz alone. Horns of a Rabbits guitar part is almost punk (with menacing drum shuffle and horns behind it). Synthesizers pop up and fade away on nearly half the tracks. An acoustic guitar riff leads closer Hooray Hooray Hootay. There’s even a musique concréte break. But the variety never makes the album uneven. Winter Hymn Country Hymn Secret Hymn is a consistently engaging record that is as challenging as it is accessible, and a welcome introduction to one of my new favorite post rock bands.