PURE REASON REVOLUTION: Eupnea (PROGRESSIVE ROCK): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

Surprise on the Westminster side: after announcing its separation in 2011, the band Pure Reason Revolution reunites in June 2019 to play the entirety of its debut album "The Dark Third". As a logical sequel, the duo Jon Courtney (vocals, bass, keyboards) / Chloë Alper (vocals, guitar, keyboards) releases a new LP "Eupnea" at the beginning of 2020, under an enigmatic artwork where a hybrid half-man half albino lion mutilates himself with an ice axe on a bloody ice floe (probably an ecological allegory).

The recipe hasn't changed: an extremely well-arranged alloy of studied keyboards, guitars oscillating between floydian slide (the beginning of 'Silent Genesis') and riffs tending towards metal without being too aggressive, and a shared vocal between the two partners. One thing is sure, Pure Reason Revolution's know-how in terms of sound hasn't changed over the years: "Eupnea" is particularly well produced and the instruments are impeccables to highlight the duo's multiple influences: from Pink Floyd (a passage at the beginning of 'Eupnea' is furiously reminiscent of the intro of 'Shine On...') to Tool (the rise in power in 'Silent Genesis').

As in the previous albums, the band integrate well-placed electro touches ('New Obsession', well balanced with pleasant riffs) or studied choruses (the beginning of 'Upnea'). So fans of good sound are in for a treat. On the other hand, the pure progressive fans, who enjoy complex developments and long evolutive solos, will be left hungry. The short tracks ('Maelstrom', 'Beyond Our Bodies') don't contain any surprising inventions and if the longest tracks are filled with instrumental sections, these are more atmospheric processes, short passages setting up ambiences that don't develop complex melodies but remain very evolutive because of the variety of ambiences and arrangements. As a result, the rendering is rather cinematographic, but this kind of construction can leave one rather indifferent. By its approach, Pure Reason Revolution achieves the same result as Frequency Drift, a German band that had left the melodic shores to take refuge in a more musically shy atmosphere.

Pure Reason Revolution illustrates some of the limits of the atmospheric genre, which privileges sound research to melodic research. However, it seems that the two are inseparable in order to achieve a powerful and lasting emotion. For this reason, it is to be feared that "Eupnea" is the kind of record that provides immediate listening pleasure linked to an undeniable quality of instrumental setting, but not so durable as that. Impression to be modulated according to the sensitivity of each one... - Official website

PURE REASON REVOLUTION

EUPNEA

INSIDEOUT MUSIC

PROGRESSIVE ROCK