Gospel

Gospel does prog like a Sunday-morning church choir doped up on amphetamines and worshiping heretic gods. Brooklyn-based and heaven-sent, the assemblage of vocalist/guitarist Adam Dooling, bassist Sean Miller, keys/guitarist Jon Pastir and drummer Vincent Roseboom can thrash it out with the best of them, but with a dirtiness gleaned from art-school aesthetics rather than misguided youthful anger. The Mars Volta is an obvious comparison: The two bands share the same complex interludes and lengthy gut-punching climaxes and breakdowns that make the post-hardcore kids squeal with anticipation. But where Volta's principles falter to the wayside of intellectual guitar jamming, Gospel keeps it loud and feverish, like apocalyptic horsemen bent on punk-rock destruction. The Moon Is a Dead World, the group's first full-length on Level Plane Records, collapses eight songs in just under forty minutes, and every second is a testament to instrumental veracity and musical faith. Believe in the Gospel.