What is the best band in post-rock?

Explore a fascinating range of post-rock artistry, from the orchestral titans crafting epic soundscapes to the underground innovators pushing boundaries with unique textures. Each contender offers a distinct flavor, whether you're drawn to the cinematic or the intimate—where do your preferences lie?

Godspeed You! Black Emperor

This Montreal collective formed in 1994 builds sprawling, orchestral sound-worlds out of guitars, strings, and field recordings, producing album-length compositions of rare emotional and political intensity that define what post-rock can be. Vote for them.

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Sigur Rós

Formed in Reykjavik in 1994, this Icelandic quartet creates ethereal and cinematic music using bowed guitar, lush orchestration, and a falsetto voice that sings in both Icelandic and an invented wordless language. Cast your vote for them.

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Mogwai

This Scottish quintet formed in Glasgow in 1995 has spent three decades mastering the art of the slow build, crafting guitar-driven instrumentals that move from delicate beauty to crushing noise with devastating emotional precision. Vote for them.

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Explosions in the Sky

Hailing from Austin, Texas, this quartet has been creating emotionally powerful guitar-driven instrumentals since 1999, with a sound that moves effortlessly from fragile fingerpicking to overwhelming walls of distorted guitar. Add your vote.

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Slint

This Louisville quartet created one of the most celebrated and studied albums in post-rock with a single 1991 record of fractured song structures, spoken word passages, and stark dynamic contrast that influenced virtually everyone who followed. Vote now.

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Tortoise

This Chicago ensemble formed in 1990 blends post-rock, jazz, dub, and electronic music into a uniquely collaborative and rhythmically sophisticated sound that has made them one of the most intellectually distinctive acts in modern instrumental music. Cast your vote.

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This Will Destroy You

Formed in San Marcos, Texas in 2005, this instrumental quartet builds dense, overwhelming soundscapes that move between hushed introspection and near-unbearable emotional catharsis across a catalog of beautifully crafted records. Vote for them.

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Do Make Say Think

This Toronto collective formed in 1995 brings jazz improvisation, folk warmth, and electronic texture to the post-rock format, creating music of expansive beauty and subtle complexity that rewards deep and patient listening. Share your vote.

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Mono

This Tokyo quartet formed in 1999 pairs devastating guitar crescendos with sweeping orchestral arrangements, creating music of extraordinary emotional range that moves audiences around the world with its combination of fragility and overwhelming power. Vote for them.

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Caspian

Formed in Beverly, Massachusetts in 2003, this quintet crafts richly textured guitar-driven instrumentals that balance post-rock grandeur with intimate emotional depth, building a catalog of consistently excellent and emotionally resonant music. Cast your vote.

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If These Trees Could Talk

This Akron, Ohio outfit formed in 2006 combines post-rock melodicism with post-metal intensity and cinematic scope, creating instrumental music of sweeping ambition that draws on both the delicate and the devastating ends of the genre. Vote for them.

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Russian Circles

This Chicago trio formed in 2004 has built a reputation for live performances and studio records that push post-rock into heavier and more metallic territory while maintaining a sense of atmosphere and dynamic subtlety that sets them apart. Add your vote.

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Talk Talk

This English group transformed themselves from a synth-pop act into pioneers of avant-garde improvised music on two final albums of extraordinary stillness and depth, recording tracks in near darkness and creating a template for post-rock itself. Vote for them.

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65daysofstatic

Formed in Sheffield in 2001, this English quartet weaves dense electronic production and glitchy programming into post-rock guitar dynamics, creating layered and kinetic instrumental music that sits at an exhilarating crossroads between rock and electronica. Cast your vote.

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Collapse Under the Empire

This Hamburg duo formed in 2007 crafts cinematic and emotionally rich instrumental music with a gift for melodic development and atmospheric texture, carving out a dedicated following across a prolific catalog of beautifully constructed post-rock albums. Vote now.

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