THE CROSS & THE CRUCIBLE

Following on the steps of Beat the Drum, this album proves that Pallas' comeback was no fluke. Pallas sound here like a mix of 80s style synth-drenched arena rock (a touch of Rush and Bruce Springsteen, why not) and Pink Floydian celestial atmospherics, with their church sounds and airy guitar solos. Typically neo-prog in the combination of catchiness and familiar moderate complexity. Songs are typically unhurried, stately and completely humorless in their over-dramatization of the human condition, a catchy rock riff followed by a quieter middle section culminating with a big encore - you know, a kind of music you will probably not head-bang or surf a wave to, but surely tap your fingers. While probably not an essential album, but one of the stronger outing from Pallas, with little filler.