AMOR VINCIT OMNIA

PRR's debut full album called "The Dark Third" showed a very promising band which was inspired by the sounds of Pink Floyd. I remember being very excited about this band after first hearing that album, but the overall feeling of excitement does tend to cool off over time. There are still good songs on the album, and the musicianship is great along with the unique harmonies, but it does tend to grow stale by the end of the album. But, there was still a lot of promise. However, their second album, "Amor Vincit Omania" does not deliver on that promise.

I respect the fact that the band wants to try other styles, but this was a step in the wrong direction in my opinion. The unique harmonies are there, and there are plenty of electronic hooks that would be great if the rest of the material stood up to the hope that was felt from the debut album. This album however, ventures too far into poppy territory for my taste. It's not a complete write-off, but it is close unfortunately.

Right off the bat, you know you've got a less adventurous sound with the first track. It's just a more electronic trip hop feeling, not that that is completely bad. But the songs that follow don't really venture into new territory, you get the same vocal harmonics as before, and some interesting vocal interplay, but like I said, it started growing stale after time on the previous album, and now it only gets stale quicker. The only prog sounding song is track 4 "Apogee/Requiem for the Lovers", but it's hard to really make it stand out that much because the same overall sound doesn't deviate much. Other than this, you get a trip- hoppy sound but without the tripy-ness. There is a band that does the electronic Trip hop sound while remaining (for the most part) progressive and that band is Archive, but PRR fails miserably at this making a more plastic sound.

Things even get embarrassingly tacky as you move towards the middle of the album, you still get the poppy dance sound. "Disconnect" comes off as an attempt to have a little variety in the sound, but it's just plain awful with a robotic voice which is annoying and boring vocals and goofy synths. There is hope that "The Gloaming" might show some prog traits boasting a + 9 minute run time, but don't get your hopes up much. It's more of an attempt to sound like a rave dance style, but it ends up sounding like a poor 80s disco band.

It's too bad that a band that showed a lot of potential would move in the wrong direction. If they want to explore electronic trip hop, then they should listen to "Archive" to hear a better way to do it. It involves retaining at least some prog elements to keep things interesting and a lot more variety. By the end of this album, you are wondering where all of the highlights are, and if you are trying to remember what any of the particularities of any songs were on the album, you won't be able to, except for how obnoxious "Disconnect" was. I can only give this 2 stars, and that is only because the production is still good.