THE FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND

If through the first few listens you're thinking the debut of Future Kings of England is a miscast post-rock album, give it time. The psychedelic influence is quite apparent, particularly in the abundance of mellotrons and spacey sounding guitars. Yet the trademark military sounding post- rock drums come into the fore often, notably on ''Lilly Lockwood''.

The prevailing mood of the album is actually heavy and intense (not in metal terms), layered with phantasmagoric mellotron washes, thick drumming, searing guitar lines, and the occasional sound bite for whatever reason. The album is also cluttered with long songs, so this isn't a quick listen despite the run time missing one hour. Actually, I find that a flaw with FUTURE KINGS OF ENGLAND; while there are great ideas in the psych pieces, the songs feel about as their run times suggest. Granted, there's no grand epic of sorts, and ''Pigwhistle'' has a Porcupine Tree-esque beginning, but sometimes it doesn't help that it feels a bit long in the tooth.

Even so, the Future Kings of England have established a sound identity with tracks like ''10:66'' and ''Silent and Invisible Converts''. This is music for both fans of psychedelic rock and post rock as the merger of the two styles is remarkably credible.