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I
thought I was allowed to rank myself amongst the “advanced
amateur-symphomaniacs”, but I must admit, in all humbleness, that I
am too often faced with a hiatus in my musical knowledge. In other
words: it’s only since my purchase of The Cross and the Crucible a
few months ago that I was introduced to the music of Pallas. Only
recently has the double live CD come out, so now I can make up part
of my arrears. The registration of this concert in Zoetermeer in
September 2002 is a perfect synopsis of the band’s career that
started in 1984; say the Marillion, IQ and Pendragon era.
Discographicly, we can summarise this: 1984: The Sentinel, 2 years
later The Wedge, Arrival Alive in 1991, as late as 1999 the strong
Beat The Drum and the, earlier mentioned, brilliant The Cross and
the Crucible in 2001.
The music itself is hard to place, but the melody has, always, a
central place.
Slightly
bombastic
Synthsounds, rather sharp and harder solo-guitar work, daring pauses
and very good vocals in both hard and soft passages; sometimes a
pastoral requiem sound. In short, a large fan in a very coherent and
adult whole. A roughly woven carpet.
All these elements can be easily found on the first class double CD
“The Blinding Darkness”. From a technical point of view, this is a
very good recording of a solid live concert. I have seldom heard a
live CD that has hit me from the start. The opening number is the
majestic title track from The Cross & the Crucible: 9 minutes of
driving power; mysterious, almost sacral/theatrical violence without
exaggeration and Gregorian breaks in between. It takes my breath
away.
Moments
like this often return on the album.
The
level and the quality remain very high but, even so, at some point
my attention wanes and I catch myself being irritated by the sound
of the solo guitar, or some harder parts that are a little too hard.
But, of course, that’s a personal interpretation. On the whole, the
album is a compilation of high points from all previous works, but
the principal supplier is The Cross and the Crucible album. All the
more reason to become acquainted anew with a great band that seems
to go through time effortlessly and is capable of making magnificent
and glorious music with a renewed enthusiasm. Just listen !! |
