Putting a metal edge on exploratory post-rock, Akron, Ohio’s If These Trees Could Talk deliver sprawling sounds tempered with blistering movement. With a sound reminiscent of Mogwai and Russian Circles, the band’s delay-heavy sound is constantly exploring sonic peaks and valleys as the band’s three guitar attack surrounds listeners in a swirling sea of sparkling sound.

The End Of The Ocean is an instrumental post-rock band from Columbus, Ohio. From their start in early 2009, The End Of The Ocean has had a penchant for crafting soundtrack-esque athems that move freely from beautiful to trippy to heart-tugging to fist clenching. Heavily influenced by mid 90′s emo and shoegaze (My Bloody Valentine, Mineral, The Appleseed Cast, American Football, Planes Mistaken for Stars), and their post-rock contemporaries (Mono, Envy, Explosions In The Sky), The End Of The Ocean utilizes intricate drumming, subtle guitar arpeggios, and a vast range of effects to craft beautiful, nostalgic and refreshingly unique memorable songs.

Sioum is an instrumental trio based out of Chicago, Illinois. Formed in 2008, the band consists of brothers Dorian Zdrinc (guitar), Arthur Zdrinc (drums) and Kevin Clark (keys). They often draw inspiration from film, video games, and most frequently, emotion itself. Post-metal, as well as progressive influence are often noted, although occasionally, many broad (and unusual) influences, such as contemporary classical and chiptune, can be heard.

Almost six years after Sioum’s debut LP, in May of 2016 the group released their second full-length album Yet Further. It was recorded and engineered by Greg Norman (Russian Circles, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Pelican.) Whereas I Am Mortal was based mainly on fictional stories and imagery, the music of Yet Further serves more as artifacts that reflect and convey the personal tribulation, hopes, and fears experienced after their first album was released. The music maintained a similar cinematic and emotional core, but with more content, variation, and complexity throughout each song. A noticeably more progressive influence could also be heard, with heavier exploration of distortion passages.