Pure Reason Revolution
Eupnea

And here's another meteor band that had thrown in the towel too soon and has now decided to make a comeback. Pure Reason Revolution had distinguished themselves with psychedelic indie-prog by releasing a gem titled "The Dark Third" and two other albums characterized instead by a more electronic and somewhat more flamboyant matrix. Then the breakup and that sense of bewilderment among those who believed in them, the constant exclamation "damn, they were a promising band."

But now the big return. And it's a return in the style that suits them best, namely that of "The Dark Third," the one with the guitar more in the spotlight but also making ingenious use of synthesizers and having the right psychedelic touch. And let's be honest: it's their best album, almost as if these ten years of hiatus were intentional in order to come back in a grand way.

Placing Pure Reason Revolution in the progressive category is a choice that raises some perplexity. Their songs don't have the instrumental dynamism and wide variety of rhythm and intensity that prog entails, there's no room for symphonic, ethereal, baroque elements, or for organs and synths like Keith Emerson's and his instrumental escapades or Peter Gabriel's vocalizations, they are instead more oriented towards a more orderly and energetic rock, sharp but with melodic sensitivity, which however doesn't fossilize on a strict song form but allows for a moderate freedom of forms and also welcomes long and more or less structured tracks. Sound-wise, the approach is markedly inclined towards indie and alternative rock, when you hear the scratchy, massive and composed guitars, the acidic synths, and even more so the male voice that sounds very urban, British, and not very melodic, it's easy to claim that we're firmly in alternative territory. We can approximately define Pure Reason Revolution as a hybrid between Muse, Porcupine Tree, and Primal Scream.

"Eupnea," the band's fourth work ten years after the previous one, however, clears up all doubts: Pure Reason Revolution are undoubtedly progressive, the album in fact adopts a formula now widely tested and effective in prog, namely one that involves few tracks that alone take up a significant duration; there are only 6 tracks and the total duration is about 47 minutes, a duration not really exaggerated, indeed rather contained, which even looks back to the '70s when albums had a duration strongly conditioned by the space limit imposed by vinyl; albums with few tracks and with a duration around or even under 40 minutes was the prerogative of many masterpieces that made prog history and this similarity further convinces us that these are clearly prog territories; moreover, we have almost the certainty that in those minutes and in those few tracks the band has given their best and that verbosity is kept at bay. Another element that captures interest and projects us into the past is the cover, not so much for the very strange yet curious depiction on the verge of nonsense - a man with the head of a white lion on the edge of a glacier lacerating his tongue with the tip of a hammer (I'm still trying to understand the symbolic meaning of the image) - but for the rather unusual choice of including the tracklist on it; practically a legacy from the sixties but the more pop ones, at the time of the 45 rpm, when the album was essentially a collection of hits and the singer's face appeared on the cover with the song titles fluttering around; an atypical choice for prog but in itself definitely prog, an original choice, which captures attention precisely because it's unusual.

The album is essentially at two speeds, 3 tracks are short and immediate, 3 are instead long and substantial, the artistic gap between the two types of composition seems tangible but it seems intentional. The short tracks don't have big ambitions other than to provide fresh and pleasant moments. The opener "New Obsession" flows simple and direct without claiming to be an absolute masterpiece but with the intention of being more than ever effective, at first slow with acute and lulling guitars with an almost post-rock approach then moderately lively with bursts of bass and guitar vaguely inspired by Muse; a track that aims to be nothing more than an opener but a great opener nonetheless. "Maelstrom" instead wants to be simply a melodic track but with a light, relaxed, inconspicuous melody, we are light years away from the tearjerkers of Anathema; Pure Reason Revolution need only subtle piano notes to create a perfectly radiant track, only the drumming is massive to give a bit of charge and only in the finale does the track dress in a calm energy. "Beyond Our Bodies" instead doesn't leave much of a mark, doesn't know where it's going, doesn't know if it wants to be a good melodic track, if it wants to be energetic or both, in the end it's a well-crafted filler and nothing more, those who think it's practically impossible to find filler in an album of only 6 tracks will have to rethink.

So the band essentially used only a part of themselves in the short tracks to preserve the other part, the better and more creative part, for the long tracks. This time we are in the presence of small indie-prog gems, perfectly balancing between prog, alternative, and psychedelia. "Silent Genesis" is in my opinion the highest point, a track whose structure recalls post-rock compositions a lot, in fact it keeps a constant and regular pace, with delicate and lulling guitars and occasional stronger riffs, all accompanied by psychedelic and acidic synths, harsh mellotron, even parts of electric piano of almost fusion extraction but played aggressively. "Ghosts & Typhoons" has a slow and painful progress in the very first minutes, with serious and dark piano notes, a weak electronics and gray murmurs of mellotron, then it loads with almost tribal percussions, sharp electronic splashes, guitar rides once again in Muse style, sounds of a music box and even some attempt of orchestral insert. And then there's the title track, 13 minutes with various rhythm and intensity changes within, undoubtedly the most proggish structured track though even it is entirely free from instrumental virtuosity and various types of baroque decoration, a composition that encompasses a bit of everything the album offers even if as the minutes pass it can seem a little dispersive.

A return that was really needed, reducing a band like this to a parenthesis would have been a shame... and the band itself seems to have realized it, the fact is that without wasting more time they have already started working on the next album, as if they want to make up for lost time. The wait begins already.