While it has only been 18 months since Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band's self-titled debut, they have traveled what feels like thousands of miles. Where the Messengers Meet is in real time, an expansion of the sound of the band's eponymous debut. They take those frantic, skewed elements and stretch them out, allowing room to breathe and blossom. Thematically, Where the Messengers Meet is an exercise in contrasts: The delicate and gentle, the dark and furious. Mt St Helens Vietnam Band collects powerful compositions into a cohesive whole held together with lush production and a haunting atmosphere.