Search - Pallas :: Blinding Darkness

'Neo-Prog' Of The Highest Order, Pallas Rocks!

Jason M. Carzon | bowie, maryland United States | 02/14/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in the early 80's there emerged in Britain a slew of melodic 'progressive rock' bands with a dramatic flair, a New Wave of progressive rock which included the likes of Marillion, IQ, Twelvfth Night and Pendragon. Scotland's Pallas were also amongst these, though this is the first Pallas album I've heard and now I must say- I have been missing out. I now count them as interesting as the others, and in no way are they a lesser 'neo-prog' band(though the limiting label of 'neo-prog' is widely hated by these type of bands). They have their own sound too. Pallas have a dark, harder edge in places(similar perhaps to Arena) and the music is captivating. For anyone into that sound- lush synthesizers, melodic recurring themes, extended compositions and passionate vocal delivery- Pallas are for you, and this disc is a great place to start. Material basically covers all their history, but with the heftiest emphasis on their more recent 'Cross & The Crucible' and their classic second album 'The Sentinel'. Highlights for me were the classic 'Crown Of Thorns', the Atlantis suite, and the last two 'Cross...' tracks, 'Midas Touch' and 'Celebration!' The band is in fine form and Alan Reed trading vocal lines with bassist Graeme Murray on 'Crown Of Thorns' sounds great. Some of the tracks sound better here in a live context than the studio versions. One standout moment for Pallas fans is when the band is joined by their original lead singer, coaxed out of retirement, who sings the last two tracks. If only Fish & Marillion would do that. Overall this two-cd set is a great intro to the music of Pallas. There is also a DVD of the show as well. If you like that IQ/Arena/Twelvth Night/Jadis type sound, this is a keeper."