Terrifying angels (Pure reason revolution)
Since their reunion in 2019, and over the course of four albums, Pure Reason Revolution, led by the duo John Courtney and Annicke Shireen, have managed to establish themselves among the bands capable of blending influences as diverse as Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, and Nirvana, infusing their decidedly progressive sound with an unbridled energy that is undoubtedly their trademark.
Thus, following the melancholic and somber Coming up to Consciousness (2024), this year brings the highly successful Terrifying Angels, which explores the duality of these mythical figures, highlighting their ambiguity and the violence they conceal behind their reputation as saviors, figures more inclined to judge than to deliver. The entire album explores the darkness of human nature, such as toxic relationships in “Black-arrow acrobats,” psychological imprisonment (“Rumination ruin”), and the concepts of lies, repression, the unsaid, transcendence, and salvation. Straddling light and shadow, this album, more than any other, succeeds in bringing to the fore, even in its overall tone, that blend of hope and disillusionment through masterful tracks of incredible musicality and controlled power, which leave ample room for the drumming to shine.
The opening track, “Spin like fire,” also served as the album’s compositional thread, both in its structural richness and sound, a heavy blend of heavy metal and atmospheric prog, as well as in its overall atmosphere. And while “Haywire Heart” is the shortest track the band has ever written, don’t be fooled, the album features several multi-layered tracks, true progressive metal anthems lasting over 10 minutes, which incorporate incredible breaks and purely ethereal passages (“Terrifying Angels”) between waves of sound. The presence of Mariusz Duda (Lunatic Soul, ex-Riverside) on bass for “Hold Your Wrath” and Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain of Salvation) on the rest of the album is no coincidence, since both bring the richness of complex yet addictive lines that truly carry the album, complementing the remarkable work of Paul Mullen (formerly of Yourcodenameis:milo), an alternative rock legend who leaves a distinctive mark on the album’s compositions.
From moments of grace (“Below Radiance,” composed by Kenny Fitzgerald, a talented young musician who hangs out with the band) to moments of total disorientation and loss of confidence (“Hold Your Wrath” is one of those wild tracks that define a career), this Terrifying Angels album showcases both grandiose orchestrations and solitary notes (which, incidentally, are reminiscent of Lunatic Soul), and the blend of female and male vocals draws the listener into a world akin to Puscifer, a style that suits these Englishmen from Westminster perfectly.
Just seven tracks, offering nearly 50 minutes of pure auditory pleasure, that’s what awaits the listener on this excellent album, which almost helps us get over the blow of Riverside’s breakup earlier this year, given that the future of quality progressive metal is firmly in the hands of bands like Pure Reason Revolution. This new album is one of those works that reconciles you with a genre, an approach that’s almost stylistic, certainly sonic, thanks to the excellent mixing work by Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief), which makes it a perfectly polished album, almost a masterful slap in the face to the genre’s purists, enough to keep them from resting on their laurels, and their penchant for excessive showmanship, because Pure Reason Revolution doesn’t beat around the bush, doesn’t try to win you over with “what works,” and doesn’t get lost in convoluted twists or hazy concepts, but instead makes a powerful statement by uniting form and substance into a perfectly coherent, no-frills whole, the hallmark of great albums.
Comments