- Don’t be fooled by the sensible, even diminutive track-lengths on their latest EP, Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving are still, very much true to their proggy obsessions. The through-composed nature of Failed By Man And Machine makes this, appropriately, more like one epic song, a torrent of creative force unleashed by the band.

I’ve been a fan of the Perth band from the beginning, thanks to their ability to bring together not only prog-rock, but also, post-rock, metal, jazz, idm and more. More importantly, they manage that jostling crowd of styles with skill, which sets them above half of all other proggressive rockers and taste, which knocks out ninety-nine percent.

From the opening tract, Dance Before You Die, it’s clear the band are seeking to keep on trying new things. The song’s intricate math-rock rhythms, skitter nervously, even a little bit awkwardly, with the guitar plucking away on the offbeats over the rolling piano line. It’s not the math-metal of Meshuggah, you don’t get any heaviness before we jump into the more familiarly post-rock territory of (Quakes), which builds to towering guitar chords before sneaking in a couple of sly, syncopated djent-djents, but never really allowing the math to bleed in, which I might have liked.

Still, it’s a sweet number and after its firey noise recedes, we're left to smoulder in the cool, jazzy darkness of Failed By Man. Electronic bass and a clavinova groovily intertwine, before - they just can’t help themselves - we’re all climbing to a post-rock peak again.

Possibly still a little worn out, things don’t reach the same climax before collapsing into the broken soundscape of (Tremors) where the drums clatter like a malfunctioning machine. It’d be just filler but for the wave of beautiful string orchestration that crashes through the end: just great.

Tangled Thoughts of Leaving marshal their forces for a final assault. The propulsive rhythm of Failed By Machine drive the sound towards the finish line, joined by repetitve melodic patterns on the guitar and constant snare rolls. Sadly, as they say, everything in the end must fail and the urgency breaks down into silence.

Taking Failed By Man And Machine as a single song is how it works best. Many of the individual movements, by themselves, seem a little unambitious, at least by the standards previously set by this band and other leaders in the same sorts of sounds, like Between The Buried And Me. Fit them all together and you see that the whole is impressive. It’s yet another shaggy, old rule of prog-rock from a band that make very few concessions to the modern, musical work. It is because of that uncompromising nature that I like them.

- Chris Cobcroft.