Bournemouth and Birmingham UK based foursome, THE NEPALESE TEMPLE BALLS, have released their debut album, called "Arbor". It has become an effort full of Post Rock, topped off with, here and there, some shards of Metal.

"A Snake For Every Year" kicks off the album with a three-minute long intro before the vocals and the heavy EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY-like guitars come in. They were worth the wait though. From then on the guitar riffs and licks attack you as if you've just poked a beehive. The vocals are little more than short but powerful screams and shouts, but they come forth at just the right moment and add to the general atmosphere of the music.

"Knee Deep" starts a lot heavier and even reminds me more of Death Metal than of Post Rock. The singer screams at the top of his lungs and the drummer doesn't hold back either. It's not until after two minutes or so, when the piercing guitar sounds come through, it sounds like themselves again.

"Mongolian Terror Trout" is with its five minutes and nineteen seconds one of the shortest songs on the album, but it sure uses its limited time well. When the intro is done and they start off slow again, they build up to a highpoint a couple of minutes later, which really defines the song. "Gas Bird" then has a very similar build-up as "A Snake For Every Year", but doesn't really reach its high peaks.

"Desert Baron" starts off with some of the slowest and easiest playing you'll find on this album. It gets better when the noise and the Death Metal drums start to kick in though. Halfway through, the song changes course, but the playing stays non-explosive until the last couple of minutes. "Statues in The Garden of Death" marks that point where you feel you've heard it all before and you're waiting for something to knock you off your socks again.

That doesn't really happen in "Astral Beard", which seems little more than some noise topped off with screams., even for Post Rock. "The Axeman" is not really an improvement. About time the album ended, and so it did.<