Pendragon
Love Over Fear

The expression “return to roots” always scares me, it takes away part of the enthusiasm; I always prefer the artist to move forward rather than backward, to open a new phase, but I welcome such an announcement nonetheless positively, especially if those old sounds were the best and marked a period of grace for a band.

In the last 15 years, Pendragon have steered towards a modern post-prog with strong sounds that at times touches upon prog-metal (especially in the album “Passion”), crafting a handful of great albums and sealing their “modernist” period, but now they have decided to rediscover their more melodic and airy side, their romantic and symphonic vein, the one that characterized the 1991-2001 period and allowed them to establish themselves among the top names in neo-progressive.

Just by admiring the cover, you can understand where the band is heading; if in the last and more angular phase the covers became grayer and more characterized by essential subjects, now we have once again a picturesque, fairytale, and enchanted cover, this time with a maritime theme, with a sort of large and foamy sea vortex ridden by sharks and dolphins in a surge of vibrant azure tones. The wave is deliberately exaggerated, but indeed the atmosphere it exudes is that of a noisy sea that puts you in a good mood, of a sea breeze that caresses your skin, of a sun that kisses your forehead; there's a great sense of positivity, brilliance, and lightness that you feel throughout the album.

Well yes, upfront we have once again the shiny and powerful keyboards of Clive Nolan, which return to create a sunny and colorful atmosphere like in the good old days. Nostalgia operation for its own sake? I wouldn’t say so; those fearing a carbon copy of “The World,” “The Window of Life,” “The Masquerade Overture” or “Not of this World” can rest easy; if that type of sound is the basis of everything, the band skillfully embroiders on that fabric, trying to insert also new and different elements; it may not be a revolutionary album to the point of opening a new artistic phase for the band, but the mix of elements still arouses interest. Let's see how…

Meanwhile, the aforementioned Clive Nolan this time tries to avoid sounds that are too sugary and fairy-tale, those too AOR-rooted, as well as pompous synth solos, all things that were abundant in the albums of the '90s; mostly, only the invasive and predominant backing parts remind us of that period; instead, the parts with the mellotron sound, which blend perfectly with the more modern ones, are abundant; the album thus acquires a vigorous '70s aftertaste, a flavor truth be told never belonged to the band (which seems to have drawn much more from Marillion and AOR), a new approach that manifests immediately when the attack of "Everything" starts, debuting with the sound of an old Hammond organ that couldn't be more '70s.

To reaffirm the '70s influence is Nick Barrett, who, besides not giving up on his long solos (a trademark by now), inserts several 12-string acoustic phrases that are a clear nod to the classic Genesis; “Everything,” “Truth and Lies,” “Eternal Light,” “Afraid of Everything,” even something in “Water,” in these tracks we can literally let our ears be caressed by clean and bright arpeggios, especially in “Truth and Lies” these lead practically throughout the song, connecting us with Genesis it is practically as if the intro of "Supper's Ready" was extrapolated to create a spin-off.

You can also glimpse a slight Celtic atmosphere, it seems that most of the tracks, perhaps due to certain choral keyboards, are particularly suitable as a soundtrack for a journey among the green hills and coasts of Ireland. It is, however, a light and barely perceptible inflection... except in one case, that of the lively “360 Degrees,” which seriously immerses in Irish folk in an atmosphere literally like a beer festival, with the mandolin leading and an energetic and shrill violin making everything shine. Instead, a sadder and more weeping violin is found in “Soul and the Sea,” decidedly more melancholic. The Celtic atmosphere also manifests in the soft ballad “Starfish and the Moon,” with a lulling piano and a guitar almost with a touch of Mark Knopfler, almost reminiscent of the slower tracks of Enya, even though Enya's style is practically impossible to imitate for how unique it is. Furthermore, it’s worth noting how this track and “Whirlwind” (featuring a deliberately muted saxophone) are of a rather unusual delicacy and slowness for Pendragon, making it impossible not to be captivated.

However, what happened in the more recent albums is not entirely discarded. Certain guitar phrases with a cold and sharp sound midway between Pink Floyd, Porcupine Tree, and Radiohead remain, but much more diluted; they integrate into the dreamy and ethereal fabric of the album, maintaining a certain continuity with the previous records. And indeed, a track that fully embodies the sounds of the previous albums exists (in the same way that the previous albums had some remnants of the more symphonic-romantic phase), and it is “Who Really Are We?,” a track that could very well appear on “Pure” or, due to its dark acoustic component, on “Believe”; roaring guitars alternating with equally violent acoustic strumming, screeching keyboards and decisive organs, even a part with dark arpeggios in classic Opeth style and mellotron this time grayer.

Another characteristic that certainly cannot be missed is the frequent use of reprises, more than in any other album of the group, many themes are reproposed with different arrangements in several tracks.

Then to be noted is the studio debut for drummer Jan-Vincent Velazco, who offers a far from anonymous performance, a rather colorful drumming with some surprise strokes such as the genius move in “Water,” where with a malicious roll he misleads the listener into thinking there might be a faster section that never actually arrives.

One of the best albums of the year, endowed with a brilliant melody and a truly positive energy, perfectly suspended between classic prog and neo-prog in an original mix that does not at all feel obsolete, truly magnificent!