PERVY PERKIN

Literary references are nothing new in the fields of rock and metal. Grim writings, in particular, have provided musical inspiration to artists ranging from metal bands like Mastodon to acts as impressively-un-metallic as The Alan Parsons Project. The Inferno section of Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy is one of the most-referenced works in the whole of the literary canon. In spite of this, Comedia: Inferno, is an inventive, original, and enthralling album.

Each of the nine songs represents one of Dante's nine concentric circles of Hell. Pervy Perkin's music has always been heavy, but they turned up the aggression sharply here to match the dark subject matter.

"Abandon All Hope" opens the album with rapidfire tonal and tempo shifts, ranging from ethereal sound effects to screeching black metal blastbeats to bluesy grooves. Perhaps a bit unfocused, this song nonetheless effectively sets the stage for the rest of the album, demonstrating the band's versatility and creativity.

Following this is the sheer brutality of "The Tempest". Between the breakneck tempo and guttural vocals, this song's opening could have easily been on a Cannibal Corpse album. As the piece progresses, though, the music becomes more structurally complex and varied, morphing into something surprisingly melodic. "Three Throats" is one of the lighter cuts on the album. Still, it's heavy in absolute terms, and the main riff is pretty big. However, the blues and jazz flavors here add some nice contrast to the preceding aggression.

With "Open Casket", the listener finally gets a moment to breathe as Pervy Perkin tone down the energy for a few minutes. It's not a ballad, but taken in the context of this album's onslaught, this is the calmest song here. This is also where jazz tones are the most overt. After that relative idyll, "Cult of Blood" enters as a roaring piece of thrash metal that sounds like it could have been pulled off some alternate-universe version of And Justice for All (with good production). The rhythm guitars chug forward with purpose, solos twist madly, and the percussion is furious.

The sprawling "Malebolge" suite opens in familiar death metal territory with bass-heavy aggression and growled vocals, but this eventually segues into melodicism reminiscent of Fates Warning, or maybe even Queensrÿche. It's really impressive how adeptly Pervy Perkin can jump between such disparate metal styles yet make everything feel coherent.

Comedia: Inferno is an impressive work of songcraft and musicianship. The constant, churning flow of different styles prevents this 68-minute album from ever bogging itself down, but it's not so overwhelming as to be like drinking from a firehose. Pervy Perkin struck a fantastic balance of complexity, depth, and breadth, undergirded by a ton of ambition.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2019/04/14/album-review-pervy-perkin-comedia-inferno/

Pervy Perkin is a prog metal band to Spanish opera conceptual trend, which I knew by chance in 2014 with "Ink". They played before under the name HYBRID BLOOD. The cool trends blend with those more "nags" (I like that word!) That you can find easily on metal CDs strong, kind and dark death metal. However, I was surprised by their compositions drawers where the same prog gasoline should be sought throughout the album. In terms of influences, I see a bit of CASPIAN, of Arcturus, of FAITH NO MORE, from COMMUNIC and MEGADETH for the characteristic rhythmic and nervous. As for the texts, "Comedia: Inferno" is a concept album based on the first part of "The Divine Comedy" by Dante Alighieri, "Inferno"

"Abandon All Hope" starts with a wild intro, sounds of animals in the background and then an explosion sound equally wild, not far from death-heavy movement and a more basic tirade, the opposite of the first draft; a crescendo with guitar and organ gives a solemn tone. "The Tempest" drives the point to the death-doom-heavy metal, one of the PROG fans prefer not to listen: this is the grape for each sound. This is an opportunity to divert us with an acoustic limit almost hovering break up a development overlooking memories of that FAITH NO MORE, MEGADETH or Disillusion could do in their time. That is varied on a metal prog forceful rhythmic line; female voices give a little more cachet. "Three Throats" continues on a more groove line and it becomes vanguard made with sheared guitars. Voice hardly chopped spoken then a big riff evolution and fruity solo and rhythmic metal, synthetic in the end! "All For Gold" explores a singular composition combining many kinds of metal but always with alternative rock passages, fusion or jazz drifting moments. It is not far musical follies ASPERA, the same IHSAHN FRANK ZAPPA. It raked off. The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time! Voice hardly chopped spoken then a big riff evolution and fruity solo and rhythmic metal, synthetic in the end! "All For Gold" explores a singular composition combining many kinds of metal but always with alternative rock passages, fusion or jazz drifting moments. It is not far musical follies ASPERA, the same IHSAHN FRANK ZAPPA. It raked off. The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time! Voice hardly chopped spoken then a big riff evolution and fruity solo and rhythmic metal, synthetic in the end! "All For Gold" explores a singular composition combining many kinds of metal but always with alternative rock passages, fusion or jazz drifting moments. It is not far musical follies ASPERA, the same IHSAHN FRANK ZAPPA. It raked off. The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time! "All For Gold" explores a singular composition combining many kinds of metal but always with alternative rock passages, fusion or jazz drifting moments. It is not far musical follies ASPERA, the same IHSAHN FRANK ZAPPA. It raked off. The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time! "All For Gold" explores a singular composition combining many kinds of metal but always with alternative rock passages, fusion or jazz drifting moments. It is not far musical follies ASPERA, the same IHSAHN FRANK ZAPPA. It raked off. The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time! The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time! The end to the planing limit throwing even more trouble on their musical projects or trends, one of the most beautiful in my opinion anyway. "Row" takes us on an almost danceable rhythm with soft voices returning the ball to a heavy acceleration; MERCYFUL FATE is not far away at that time!

"Open Casket" is the cheek with an air more ambient, yes! With a typical prog looking for energetic convolutions and built. A cool jazzy synth in the middle (innovative I tell you), but also singular! Comes together "Cult Of Blood" to the jazzy atmosphere bringing its flood of sound, éructées voice, frantic pace; then an instrumental atmosphere with nervous riff, successive solos; heavier final return. It is not far from Hell! "Malebolge" with its 15minutes difficult to review !!! We had everything from the beginning of the CD here it's just a pot boiling: the lava turns to the bottom and MEGADETH confused footsteps one feels for the similar voice and rhythm. The theatrics of ZAPPA and creating IHSAHN. the physical one feels the frenzied vocal jousting, delusions of FAITH NO MORE accelerated. This title is a drawer maelstrom, a summary of what the prog crossover can make more intense (extreme?) At the metal- prog! Please note, we do not come out unscathed! "Worm Angel" closing the album with a title more pompous and a crescendo with a hoarse voice and sound even crazy to ZAPPA (louder course)! Then an explosion which for me goes more in the prog world! A columnist speaks about a churning of different styles. I confirm. "Worm Angel" closing the album with a title more pompous and a crescendo with a hoarse voice and sound even crazy to ZAPPA (louder course)! Then an explosion which for me goes more in the prog world! A columnist speaks about a churning of different styles. I confirm. "Worm Angel" closing the album with a title more pompous and a crescendo with a hoarse voice and sound even crazy to ZAPPA (louder course)! Then an explosion which for me goes more in the prog world! A columnist speaks about a churning of different styles. I confirm.

To end a little more objective, I would say "Comedia: Inferno" is the most successful of this group album, mixing here and there all possible alternative rock sounds: the only subgroup that I do not have finally recognized the djent movement is already extreme in itself but keeps a normal frame in terms of sound. Here, the stage is finally planted with the title of the album. Some came sequences of Hell with tablecloths recalling that the heavens are not so far away. The musicians give heart-joy, beautiful same way, but the combination of verbal and musical floods also jerky can hurt an unprepared listener.

Sometimes a ridiculously bad band name prevents me from exploring a said band's music and such is the case of the ghastly denominated PERVY PERKIN. I couldn't think of a worse name for a progressive metal band if i tried, however once i finally explored this band that emerged from Murcia, Spain and currently resides in Madrid, i have to admit that despite the hideous moniker and rather uninspiring album cover art for its three full-length releases that i was completely enthralled by the band's debut album INK which hit the world in 2014. This group of perves was formed in 2010 by Carly Pajar'n (drums, percussion, vocals), 'lvaro Luis (guitar, bass), Dante (guitar, bass, vocals) and Ugo Fellone (keyboards, acoustic guitar) but was soon joined by lead vocalist Alejandro Macho. Soon thereafter Fellone left the band and was replaced by bassist Pablo Aks.

About the ridiculous name. In an interview with Prog-Sphere.com, guitarist Dante explained that the name was derived from an interest in astronomy and as it turns out 2483 PERKIN came up as a name for a celestial body from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, which according to some is the exploded remains of the long lost planet Tiamat. The PERVY part of the equation was added to personify this asteroid who had a hatred and jealousy for the Earth so great that it designed a plan to lock its orbit into a trajectory that would ultimate crash into the planet and extinguish all life much like the theoretical asteroid that was the demise of the entire existence of dinosaurs some 65 million years in the past. While it is helpful to understand how this name came to be, admittedly it doesn't make me like in the least bit but despite the silly name, this band of young musicians is quite the talented bunch!

While the album's title INK has a mere three letters, the debut album boldly encompasses a whopping 137 minutes of listening experience which immediately pegged the band by many as being overly pompous, overweening, overbloated and much too adventurous for its own good. Those are the kinds of comments that generate my interest but to invest over two hours in a newer band that i have never heard? Well, sometimes you just have to let a few tracks flow and either you love it or leave it. Luckily for PERVY PERKIN i stuck around and despite the album's admittedly excessive use of listening time, this band has the knack to keep the active and adventurous listener intrigued as one melodic development cedes into the next all the while a callithump of musical genres perform tricks like circus animals performing on cue.

PERVY PERKIN can be thought of as one of those multi-genre juggling acts that has taken the disparate sounds of classic and modern progressive rock and mixed it all together with the more modern Dream Theater strain of progressive metal. Perhaps most closely related to bands like Haken, PERVY PERKIN tackles the seemingly impossible task of mixing and melding influences such as Dream Theater, Ayreon, Pain of Salvation, Opeth and Symphony X on the prog metal side of the equation along with a multitude of prog rock references such as Pink Floyd, Camel, Kansas, Rush and the Neil Morse projects such as Spock's Beard and Transatlantic amongst others. Add to that additional references to soundtrack music such as Ennio Morricone, Muse, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Frank Zappa and more and you can only imagine how much went into the making of this sprawling prog rock / metal album of epic proportion. Add even more touches of jazz, electronica, folk and more and you get the drift.

There is literally too much happening on INK to adequately convey the creativity displayed on it in mere the mere writing of a review. This is a type of band that must be experienced but it does require the proper investment of time and effort to connect with it. This is hardly an album for those who take the fly by night approach of simply sampling. While the accusations of a lengthy rambling album with no cohesive design may be true in small part due to the fact that the tracks are independently designed and exist within their own continuum of things, well'. so what. Many albums are a collection of disparate tracks and there have been no claims that this is a concept album of any sort. What it does convey is how talented this collection of Spanish musicians has become in their relentless pursuit to leave no prog rocks unturned. Admittedly an idea that has been done before and nothing new but PERVY PERKIN channel all of the technical wizardry into a strong emotional connection which is what keeps the album listenable for its duration.

While it's true there are some moments of 'down time' where an idea lingers too long or the vocal performances aren't up to the standards that the music demands, the album is for the most part an instrumental exploration and reinterpretation of all the aforementioned influences along with ample heaps of creative input. While the tag metal often accompanies the works of PERVY PERKIN, the heavier parts are not as common as the more middle of the road prog rock ones. In the end, this is not a magnum opus by any means. This is the work of a young band with a fertile creative drive that at times borders on a naive charm but always executed in a satisfying manner. While it may have been wiser to release the material as two albums or even edit out some of the more meandering parts, the truth is that i don't find any material on here to be unlistenable. In fact most of it is rather refreshing and interestingly performed. With two tracks over 20 minutes and 2 hours worth of listening material, this is truly one for the prog- o-holics out there but PERVY PERKIN delivered an exciting overdose of everything prog on its debut INK.

'Pervy Perkin' is more than just an interesting name. It is a progressive metal band that comes from Spain that was founded in 2011 by Alvaro on guitar and Carly Pajaron on drums. Their band line-up has changed somewhat from then and they have released 1 EP and 3 studio LPs, the third one called 'Comedia: Inferno' released in April of 2019. It makes you wonder if the name has anything to do with the current vocalist and guitarist Dante 'The Samurai' since it seems to be based on a portion of the classic book 'The allegorical Messages of The Divine Comedy by the author of the same name. As a matter of fact, it is a journey around the nine circles of Hell according to the band's Bandcamp page. Alejandro Macho also sings and plays keyboards; Carly Pajaron is on drums and vocals; Juan Tides is on guitars and vocals; and Pablo Aks is on bass and vocals. The album has a total of 9 tracks and the album has a duration of 67 minutes.

As expected, this is a dark album, and this is immediately proven by the first track 'Abandon All Hope' which starts with howling wolves, hooting owls and a breathless narration in Italian. Suddenly, the music begins in full force with a speed metal style and growling vocals which soon become clean and then the music calms as thick organs and chiming guitars begin to support calmer vocals. This is also a good example of all of the musicians lending their vocals as various vocal styles are noted, and this tends to separate characterizations. Immediately, you will be hooked by this dynamic sound. 'The Tempest' features 2 guest vocalists; Kheryon from Eternal Storm and Blue from Bones of Minerva. That probably explains the deep, evil growling that starts things off and appears throughout the track along with clean vocals. As before, the singers take on characters from the book. After another speed metal beginning, the track takes on a less heavy side with a dramatic and intriguing section. After a while, things build up again as a swirling guitar brings back vocal layers and then erupts into an instrumental section with a great guitar solo. More character vocals continue later as the music continues in an ever changing kaleidoscope of styles like they are running the entire gamut of metal in one 8 minute track. It's actually quite amazing. If anything can be considered progressive metal, this is it.

The album continues in this vein. You will never get tired of the vocal styles presented here as the singers continue to take on various passages, usually singing solo sections, but also harmonizing in some very unique ways. The music also never settles on anything that could be called a standard structure as it is all highly progressive and dynamic. While the overall sound of the album is heavy, dark and metallic, there is still plenty of time devoted to explore quieter, atmospheric passages, and some unique sounds that you normally won't hear in a straightforward heavy metal album. There are even some electronic effects (as in the end of 'Three Throats') and there is also a lot of organ to help with the creepiness of the album.

This is quite an ambitious undertaking for a band like this, and for the most part, they pull it off quite well. The characterization and dynamic of the album is excellent. But, in pulling this off, there are some weaknesses that are mostly apparent in the flow of the music and a bit of a choppy feeling in the utilization of so many voices. These things are not too distracting in the overall enjoyment of this album. Of course, it's not to be expected that things would flow as smoothly as they do with the band 'Aryeon' who constantly utilized many different vocalists for characterization, as that band is definitely a lot more experienced. However, it is still quite impressive that Pervy Perkin can pull this off as well as they do anyway.

The utilization of some musical styles might turn off some metal heads that have banged their mental doors closed permanently, as the dynamics of this album will require open minds. The dynamics of the music is one of this albums greatest strengths. An example of this is the ever changing musical landscape of 'All for Gold' which quickly moves from doom metal to speed metal to atmospheric metal very quickly. It also ends with a long ambient section that follows some electronic experimentation, all in the name of translating the Dante book into a musical journey. So yes, an open mind is required for this album, but an open mind that loves progressive metal.

Now for those prog lovers that don't like abrasive music. This album can get very abrasive and has some growling and screaming sections. What do you really expect during a trip through Hell anyway? But don't worry, it's not a constant barrage of extreme metal, there are more clean vocals and nice harmonies than there are dirty vocals. And the best part, this is undoubtedly progressive, so you shouldn't let the occasional dirty vocal turn you away from this excellent and dynamic album. For example, there are sections of some of these tracks that venture into a jazz fusion territory, like 'Open Casket' with its unique harmonies built off of jazz chords and instrumental progressions, for one example. There is also a cool synth solo in this track. Anyway, as is the case for metal lovers it is also the same for prog-heads, an open mind is required.

Further along in the album, 'Cult of Blood' begins with a jazz piano section before a wailing scream wakes you up to more progressive metal. This track also utilizes Blue as a guest vocalist, but also features Endika (from 'Anteros', not the English Pop band) as another guest vocalist. After this almost 9 minute tour de force, you get hit with another epic track over 15 minutes called 'Malebolge'. If your jaw hasn't hit the floor after hearing this track, then you must be deaf already.

Despite the minor flaws with flow from time to time, and the fact that some of the vocalists are better than others (and some have heavy accents), this is an excellent album, and I would expect that after an effort like this one, that the band is ambitious enough to only get better, so I'm sold to watch for future releases. This is definitely an album worth checking out, especially if you love progressive metal that isn't afraid to go places you wouldn't expect them to, and this music explores all extremes too, so be ready for that. This is impressive music, especially if you want the progressive side to be has heavy as the metal side. 4 stars easily.

Here's another chapter in this Spain band that have hit us with a double album for their first release. It's very difficult to describe what kind of Progressive Metal we have here. There is good dose of insanity in their sound because there is a lot of ideas in their music. We could find a lot of experimentation outside the world of Progressive Metal; odd time signatures, unusual instruments, choir, growls, etc. The songs are separated by four interludes pieces with special effects ; robotic voices, radio/TV show sounds etc. The song "I Believe" has a choir part that could be the next "Another Brick and the Wall". The muddy production of the music make me think that i am listening to a low budget Spaghetti western album that want to tell a long story with plenty of ingredients that we don't normally associate with Progressive Metal like funk and drum & bass. Some Jazz and a bit of Symphonic Prog rock can be found also throughout the album. If you want hear a simple melody with simple time signatures, you will be disturb by the music here, but if you want to be challenge by a Progressive Metal that is going out of his comfort zone, you will love it. Overall, i didn't enjoy every turn and twist of their music, but i am pleased enough to give them a positive rating despite the production quality that has nothing to do with the major bands.

Spanish band PERVY PERKIN was formed in 2011, and consist of five fairly young musicians operating out of Spanish capitol Madrid. They are a self-described progressive rock/metal band, and self-released their debut album "Ink" in 2014.

I'll have to admit that I am charmed by the ambition of this band. It's not all that often that a new, young band makes their first foray into the world of recording artists with a double CD, and perhaps even more uncommon that said double feature is a theme album. It demands a lot by a young band to create such a production, and I'm pretty sure that a lot of emotion as well as time have been invested on this album.

They do have a lot going for them as well. They mention a stack of fairly different artists as sources of inspiration, and this is indeed one of the few cases where a band's cited influences, as varied as in this case, can be found also in their music. Most of the compositions does feature sequences that belongs rather safely inside a progressive metal context, so presumably most people will place them inside such a general context, and they do know their way around both classic guitar riff and keyboard arrangements as well as in more vibrant and energetic guitar driven ones. They are just as compelling when exploring passages of a gentler kind however, with wandering plucked and at times acoustic guitars accompanied by careful keyboards or piano and dampened rhythm details. One of the highlights of this production for me is a piece revolving around such features, the just over 11 minutes long Memories of the Water. They also master more atmospheric laden and electronic dominated creations extremely well it should be said, as exemplified brilliantly on Shades under a City Lamppost. Atmospheric laden progressive rock closer to the likes of Pink Floyd is more of a recurring feature however, as well as some vintage Deep Purple tinged moments, and we're also treated to select occurrences of reggae and funk-tinged rock Red Hot Chili Pepper's style along the way.

For me this album plays out a bit more like a move than a concept album however, in that we're moved from one location to the next, and in the album as a whole as well as in the individual compositions there's a tendency to go steadily onward. Some of the more memorable tracks does use recurring themes and motifs to good effect, but other appears intent on just moving on, and with multiple alterations in pace, style and intensity some of the compositions becomes a bit aimless for me and how I listen to music. I found this subtle details to be most profound early on, and as this album unfolds my perception is that this tendency decreases somewhat. I also get a feeling that the band have purposefully focused on not creating such an experience on the massive, sprawling epic Morphosis, a behemoth of a song that clocks in at 26 minutes and a bit.

A detail of more concern for me here are the main lead vocals however, which I generally found to be detrimental to the total experience. To weak in the gentlest passages, at times with for me odd choices in pitch, tone and intonation, and otherwise too thin and nasal - especially in the passages demanding a more powerful vocal delivery. There's a will and emotion present that will satisfy many listeners, as there are many that hone in on that aspect of the lead vocals, but for someone like me, who listen to the vocals as an instrument in it's own right, the end result may well be that it is detrimental to the end user experience.

I should perhaps also add that some of the theatrical sequences where spoken words are used to give life to the storyline aren't all that well written nor executed as I experience them: It takes skill both to be a playwright and an actor, and that skill set isn't automatically compatible with being a lyricist, composer or musician in a band.

While my personal opinion of this album is that it is somewhat flawed, a production with some specific shortcomings, how enjoyable or not this production is, that is a matter where opinions will differ, much depending on what kind of listener you are. Those not all that particular about vocals, and who find compositions with multiple alterations and changes in style, pace and intensity to generally be a good thing will get a lot of enjoyment from this production. Literally speaking as well, as this one does clock in at around 140 minutes playtime. Those with more sensitive tastes on the details described above should probably approach this one with a bit of caution.

Pervy Perkin is a progressive rock/metal band from Murcia, Spain. Their first album entitled Ink was released earlier in 2014. The album itself serves as a long passage between different music styles, but still it remains centered around the progressive rock music.

My first impression about "Ink" was that the Spaniards made a recording after their ears were exposed to many different artists and genres. The experiment called Ink, which is released as a double album comprised of "Book of Equinox" (CD1) and "Book of Solstice" (CD2), was then completed by crossing over the contrasted music elements coming from classical music to progressive metal. The result is a recording that screams eclecticism in every minute of its playtime.

The cinematic character of "Ink" is something that strikes you right after you press the play button - the intro "Opening Credits" announce the beginning of something epic. Song after song, Ink reaches absolute highs and downs, it gets on speed but also knows how to slow down.

"Of Echoes and Reflections," which kicks off with the sound of seagulls, is a combination of classical and metal elements. Factor of the continuity between the pieces is masterfully crafted, that all of the different musical tangents flock into the same bed. The album is on the progressive rock streak accompanied with quirky arrangements and plethora of rhythmic changes.

"The End of the Beginning" is a piece on its own, coming wrapped up with theatrical vocal performance and keyboard interjections. "Morphosis" comes forward as a song that represents a much needed change in the album's flow. A lot of that change is assigned to female vocals and, for a change, growls. That certainly contributes to the album's dynamic.

Second CD, "Book of Solstice," starts with "Memories of the Water" which goes all the way from ambient soundscapes towards the melodic side of death metal. "Shades Under a City Lamppost" is an instrumental with touches of electronic, what makes "Ink" definitely a hodge podge.

With its 2 hours and 15 minutes in length, "Ink" does come a little bit unfocused. However, leaving the time factor aside, there is plenty of interesting and good music here. Having released this album as it is, Pervy Perkin have definitely earned a good experience for what comes next. And that "next" may bring something extraordinary. Wait and see.

Two years in the making, 'Ink' is a dream come true for Pervy Perkin, a 6-piece band hailing from Murcia in Spain. In fact, their goal was to bring the various musical genres they listen to into one unique musical project, and they quite succeeded in this endeavour as their album defies any genre.

If one wanted to label the music of our young spanish musicians, progressive hard-rock would be the best label, the main features being swirling keyboards, raging guitars and drums crackling with energy. This is true when you listen to the first CD of their ambitious project. But then you listen to the second CD, and you soon realize that some tracks are definitely in a completely different mood. "Shades Under a City Lamppost" is electronic music (ambient through the slow notes and bombastic with the more flashy bridge). "Memories of the Water" and "S!urm" are alternative rock (the former with typical vibrating guitars and undecided drums of this style, yet with a short hardcore passage, the latter including zappaesques, hard-rock and hip-hop touches). "Asleep in a Wormhole" is psychedelic pop in a circus arena. "3.11 A.M. (The Crystal Clock)" and "Epilogue" are sunny pop songs. On the first CD, even if this hotchpotch of styles is less obvious, the band already warns us about many possible digressions from a traditional progressive rock line. In fact, the opener is nothing more than the soundtrack to an unexisting movie, with the tearful trumpet, the pleading choir and galloping strings bringing back to memory the scores of Ennio Morricone for western movies. While "The Tree in the Sky" is mostly brazilian music with flute evoking wild forrest, classical guitar and hypnotic drums. In the same spirit of overture to other musical styles, "Falling from Earth" is a sad lullaby where the mournful voice is accompanied only by a melancholic guitar.

Even in their progressive rock tracks, the band feels the need to throw in here and there elements of other musical horizons. The classical music elements abound indeed (canon vocals in "Of Echoes and Reflections", strings in the same song, Renaissance music with the classical guitar of "The Tree in the Sky", music of the Middle Ages with the melody line of "Far Away Crusade Defending the Colonies of Satellite A.T.L.A.S"). Elements of popular musical styles are present as well (funk, reggae, circus music, latin music, ragtime, rock'n'roll, punk, hip-hop, trip-hop). Traditional elements are not forgotten (sea shanties, an accordion, an arabian motif).

We see that our promising band considers two definitions of progressive rock: a music with rhythm changes and abundance of solos on one hand, a music that blends many different styles on another hand. Besides, the progressive side of their music can be further witnessed in the vocals. Those can be indeed mournful or more cheerful, involving both male and female vocalists. Another sign of their open-mindedness is the (very spare) addition of death metal growls. Humour is also invited as circus music and zappaesques are included in their musical world. Progressive music, as envisioned by Perky Pervin, is not only about rehashing the recipe of the retro-prog rock acts where long guitar and keyboard solos support changing rhythms. It is also in creating surprise by bringing together many various musical styles, and by creating contrasts in vocals.

Pervy Perkin, just as their compatriots of Cheeto's Magazine, are a breath of fresh air and a wealth of originality in the somewhat breathless world of progressive rock. For some listeners, their music might sound lacking consistency as the unexpected elements come all of sudden. Besides, some people might have the impression that the band is still looking for an identity, as taken as a whole, the album might sound as a sampler with many different bands. In my opinion, that is no issue, as their goal is clearly to belong to the most adventurous group of progressive rock acts, along with bands like Dixie Dregs, Mr. Bungle, Praxis or Modest Midget. Given their young age (20 y.o. at the time of the album's release), we are really surprised by the quality of the compositions and their good use of elements of their various influences. Let's hope that they will continue on the path of eclecticism, with, next time, why not some country music and indus-metal ?

As a frequent listener of this kind of new progressive stuff , and the wave of many bands coming out, I only have to say that this band and INK has blew my mind.

In first place the album grows with every listen and makes you understand it as a whole, it feels very natural despite of the length (if you have no time to listen to it all at once does not matter). The contrast of styles, the melodies and the structures of the songs for such a young band, makes me feel confident to say that this will be something serious...maybe in the next album with a better production, we will see, I do not know what will be the next step in this guys cause this album just covers a lot and when I say a lot I say a lot of musical grounds! The simple reason is that they state such a wide range of intentions, different vibes, in such different point of views of the music that simply amazes me.

Epic songs, electronic songs, some psychedelia, multiple voices that make songs more theatrical.

I personally can see a bunch of guys that has united to make whatever they want with a base of rock/metal and progressive music, but taking to a whole new level of experimentation. I'm quite hooked with this piece. The only cont that I can perceive is in terms of production, they can make it sound better but it is understandable cause it is their debut, and they are quite young...just waiting for the next!

"Ah, the shotgun approach!" [i pictured Jeff Goldblum saying those words for some reason.]

Bands take many approaches to constructing and building albums. Some can be equated to being laser focused, like a sniper dropping a target at 600 yards out. They are solid with their concept, experience, skills, engineering and business marketing. Other bands are inexperienced, fumblingly firing a shotgun out of fear, hoping something from the spread will hit it's target enough to disable them. Unfortunately, Pervy Perkins is one of those examples. PP is a young band, with lofty ambitions of song complexity and album duration.

But, mostly album duration.

PP has many good listening moments with elaborate sonic textures and music tones. I liked the Opening credits and the intro to Morphosis. There are moments of pizazz. Equally, however, Ink also has many bad listening moments. They have many bland, filler moments that go nowhere and are left unexplored. They have many form changes within their songs, and many styles they wish to tackle with mediocre results. Let's play jazz here. Can we even play jazz? No, but we can fake it (listen to Peanut Butterfly, 2 1/2 min. in) ...And that's a big problem for the avid listening musician. PP is all over the board with forced song form changes, simply for the sake of satisfying their musical ADHD. For every positive listening moment, there's something that takes you out of the experience a few seconds later. If this style of prog -- hyper-prog -- is your cup of tea, then you will enjoy the efforts of this band, sure, but this reviewer highly encourages you to listen to last years mysterious breakout band, Fright Pig. Their album, Out Of The Barnyard is what PP sound like and should aspire to become. Fright Pig has all the song form ADHD, but the record is extremely well crafted, showcasing only the strongest points of individual members. Out Of The Barnyard is more compact at 45 min. and contains well crafted ideas, no filler. The genres attempted throughout are handled with ease and experience, as Fright Pig's musicianship is outstanding (words whispered on the net -- a bunch of Berkelee students. Shhhhh! you didn't hear that from me).

Even before this album was recorded, the band should have sought out an experienced producer, one who would have helped exorcise many of the freshman ideas and mixing pitfalls from this album. A more succinct and condensed approach would have resulted in a better body of work allowing for parts and ideas to be brought fully to fruition. More experience in song crafting would encourage working out stronger vocal passages and lyrical phrases?

And that reminds me...

Vocals. [sigh] Ok, the lyrics are embarrassingly sub par, even more then Arjen's latest release -- which this reviewer thought a new low had been set. But, Arjen's vocalists were recorded exceptionally well and I could clearly understand the singers in the Ayreon project (enough to drive home the fact it was a mind-numbingly tepid concept. The music and arrangements were extraordinary, however). On Ink there simply are no strong vocal melody lines that stick with you and the recorded clarity of the vocals leave much to be desired. In scarce places, it seems there was an attempt at fashioning some type of solo vocal harmony exercise, but nothing anywhere close to what we can expect on, say, a current Moon Safari, A.C.T or Spock's Beard release. There's little in the lyrics that define a clear idea of what any given song is even about. PP approaches words as trite afterthought, investing the majority of their song crafting skills into needless compositional complexity. Oh, and lest I forget: the cringe-worthy high notes! At 5:15 of the song New Dawn this reviewer became sterile. No joke. The "little swimmer" count went to zero. While admirable as a new medical breakthrough, high notes as sonic birth control should come with a warning label. As much as I hoped never to hear that attempt at a high note again, there are countless more throughout the recording. I found myself saying "no, don't do that" aloud, shaking my head in disbelief numerous times. This begs the question: "did the band show the final pass of this recording to only their parents for criticism?" There are countless inaudible phrases being sung, eye-watering high notes, laughable vocal scoops, etc. (visit 14:50 min into Morphosis. And may whatever deity you worship protect you).

Aside from the vocal work the drum parts could also have been synched and quantized to the music little more thoroughly in parts. And, simply, just plain recorded and mixed better. Just comparing the sound of the drums to what Gavin Harrison does on Porcupine Tree shows the stark contrast between a 5-star band's quality audio engineering vs. the multitude of startups in the basement. Seriously, switch back and forth between the two. The drums and overall sound production on Ink is thinner, weightless and more brittle by comparison.

Which leads us to: Length.

No need to harp on this, but geezus, this is one unnecessarily long, jimmy-leg of a recording. Why not just make two albums, increase potential product sales, and release them in different quarters of the year, keeping your name and brand identity in circulation longer? That would have been a far better band business marketing strategy.

This is a harsh critique, and it's unfortunate that Pervy is taking a beating here as the musicians (sans vocals) are somewhat competent on their instruments, but by no means are they the next generation of endorsed corporate influencers -- yet. Distill it down to the core: as a whole, they're ambitious budding song writers who are decent musicians with a multitude of ideas being thrown out for vanity sake. A wanton lust to be the next multi-genred prog metal band. There's promise, though. Future recordings (in the right hands of an experienced song writer) would produce better results. Aside from the negatives (which are tangible barriers that can be easily overcome) this reviewer, however harsh now, believes there is a future rife with potential for this band. Hopefully this also encourages the mass listening audience to take the time, sit, and properly evaluate a little more critically, too. The spotify generation seems unable to make it through more than 30 seconds of a song, before forwarding to the next song. In this day and age where every musician with ProTools LE is sitting at home splicing together regurgitated guitar riffs, half-assured vocal melodies and pseudo-songs, we the avid listeners, need to go over it with a fine tooth comb to find out where that gold standard for music once was. There's far too much mediocrity being praised as the next coming of christ. We should hold our 5-star bands to lofty standards for consideration: song composition, the musician's listening and arranging abilities, professional vocals, quality lyrics and album production. PP fell a little short in many of the categories, but again, they're still a relatively new, growing and maturing band. They have the requisite skills to attain something more. A solid producer, in a quality recording facility, and an exceptionally strong singer would serve them well and could take them to the professional, 5-star level we all know they aspire to attain.