There’s no denying that Japan’s Mono sounds an awful lot like all of the other instrumental post-rock bands out there (e.g., Explosions in the Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai). That is, their songs are slow-burning epics that start off with gentle arrangements and slowly build and build and build to inevitable cinematic climaxes that leave you emotionally wrung out. Much like punk rock’s three chords, it’s a musical formula that works and has stood the test of time.

But what separates Hymn to the Immortal Wind’s opening track from the rest of the post-rock troupe is the pure emotion that’s packed into every ethereal melody and tremolo, surging drum crash, and blistering riff that Takaakira “Taka” Goto and Hideki “Yoda” Suematsu rip out of their guitar’s guts. It’s no surprise, then, that Goto has called “Ashes in the Snow” his favorite song to perform as well as the purest distillation of Mono’s aesthetic and musical goals.