PURE

Although over repeated listens I've found myself less and less impressed with Pendragon's Pure, I do applaud their decision to shake up their sound a little rather than stick with the tried and tested formula which had held true from The World to Not of This World. However, the new sound they unveil on Pure doesn't quite grab me. The fact is that they are far from the first band to combine neo-prog with darker, heavier musical styles - hell, Clive Nolan's own Arena had already been there and done that five years before on Contagion - and in this case, I really don't think they make the fusion work. The whole album feels just a little "off" - some of the songs are alright to listen to, but the added murk and gloom doesn't reveal new musical treasures, it just obscures them.