Following up the band’s debut “In the Dead Of Sleep”, the new EP is five songs of crushing and thunderous guitarists that leans in a metal direction at times, but also develops into something more melodic at times as well. With songs like “Descend From The Wind” and “Until First Light”, the band kicks out their prog-rock more in the vein of Neurosis and Isis versus the straight pummeling of MeShuggah. There is a definite Scott Kelly (Neurosis) influence in lead singer Kenneth McNabb’s lyrics, whose vocals don’t try to overpower the riffs, courtesy of Greg Heaney and Ryan Toohey.

We wont sit here and bore you with the usual guitar and drum structures, like most articles would about prog-rock groups. Ganon’s tunes deserve way more than the geek talk that bloggers spend plenty of time discussing. But they may share one thing in common with other prog-rock/metal groups: not bowing to the 3 or 4 minute structure of popular rock songs. In the band’s album and EP, only one song (2006’s “Approach”) clocks in at under 5 minutes. And with that sort of freedom comes the right to play just about any wild riffs that the band can think up.

The band is currently on tour and will be playing venues in Michigan in June, with a June 20th (this Friday) at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, followed by a June 21st show in Muskegon. The band will be starting a much larger tour in August, but details are still coming on some of the Michigan venues. But if you’re in the mood for some cerebral and twists and turns in the metal world, Ganon may just be your band.