As anyone fortunate or canny enough to witness The Ascent of Everest"s symphonic post-rock in a live context can attest this Nashville eight-piece are something of a beautiful anomaly in the underground music world; producing delicate, sumptuously layered compositions that owe as much to the avant-garde of classical music as to anything originating from the realms of rock, AOE weave their aural landscapes with a deft, elegiac grace that more often than not packs a real emotional punch. `From This Vantage", the band"s second full length album, continues where its predecessor left off, deploying a range of unconventional instrumentation such as violin and cello to sidestep the typical constructional constraints of instrumental rock. Think of a more adventurous take on latter day Mono, or Jonny Greenwood collaborating with Sigur Ros... This is tremendously atmospheric, cinematic music that will probably beguile as many as it will charm. Listeners are advised to listen through `From This Vantage" from beginning to end, as these eight tracks together form an unmistakable journey, latter sections incorporating sparing bursts of heavy guitar to add an extra power to the album"s dizzying peaks and troughs. Ethereal vocals, unpredictable song structure; we can"t recommend that you check out The Ascent Of Everest enough if you"re after a challenging, intellectually and emotionally rewarding listen.