With almost antediluvian tastes in rock, the post-rock genre is something of an unknown to me. I've heard the rumours, but Magyar Posse's Random Avenger is the my first real taste of this loosely defined style. It is also the Finnish band's third album of intense and epic post-rock.

Whirlpool of Terror and Tension opens the album with an odd time series of cylic motifs supporting continuing layers of sound on top. Wordless vocals, childlike background chorus and a guitar line suggesting an off-kilter western theme do indeed create atmospheric tension.

Sudden Death follows with an intense and dramatic melancholy. A violin adds to the mood with a tragic breakdown that divides the song. However, with European Lover/Random Avenger the layers of sound are once more piled on. Again, circular, rolling motifs are the basis of the song. Even with all that action, sometimes the songs seem a little cold. Yet when the tension becomes all too much the emotional highs kick in giving some sort of release. A twisted circus organ outro at the end of European Lover/Random Avenger settles one back into the unease.

Two songs break up the cycle of lengthy pieces which act as almost the calm during the eye of the the storm. Black Procession is centred around delicate piano and mournful, gypsy like violin. The penultimate track One by One has wordless vocals with an acoustic guitar backing and ghosts of feedback that whisper through the song. Both pieces are a welcome break from the thematic intensity of the other songs.

Popzag closes the album and it almost seems a reprise of the entire album. More circular riffs and violins again. Popzag tries to bust out by featuring James Bond style guitar, distorted lead melody lines and even slide. This is the strength of Magyar Posse; they explore the tonal possibilities of their instruments to keep it all interesting.

I've seen the expression 'cinematic' used to describe Magyar Posse's music, and I'll second that, as it is an apt description. Random Avenger does come across as soundtrack to some dark, intense thriller about ill-fated lovers. There are times when Magyar Posse seem cold as they get lost in the form and function of the music but the emotional payoffs do come and then in waves. Some of the songs do seem to run into each other, given the reliance on motifs upon which are built layers of sounds. It is interesting that Magyar Posse are considered as post-rock. Their basic instrumentation (guitar, bass drums, keyboards) is very traditional and at times their sound harks back to the hoary sounds of 70s' progressive rock.

But that is not to damn Magyar Posse and Random Avenger. There is indeed grandeur in this view of post-rock.