PART THE SECOND

Part the Second is a subtle and excellently executed album. No one genre is large enough to encompass all the sounds on this album. It seems to exist at a triple point between metal, chamber music and experimental jazz. Over the course of each of its five meticulously crafted and highly progressive tracks maudlin of the Well will emphasize one form over another and transition to another style or hybrid with an uncanny ease. The result is album which demands your full attention to truly appreciate. The album is mostly darker, but it does not do it justice to say it is morose or depressed. For, it appears to be just as easy for the band to explode with a sudden a powerful lightness as it was for them to morph stylistically.

Needless to say, this is an album which does not lend itself to straightforward description. It is a intricate and emotional masterwork. It is obvious that great care was taken to achieve an exacting sound. It can at times be quite challenging, but I do not think we would be members of PA if we were not interested in challenging ourselves musically. Part the second doesn't sound a whole lot like the album mei by echolyn, but it is about the closest thing I can compare it to. Both are vast and immensely creative. Both also tend to overstep their bounds from time to time. That challenging nature means that the whole course is not always entirely enjoyable. Ride it through though, and you will not regret it.

The aspects I find least enjoyable are the vocals, and select passages interspersed throughout. For me, the best complete track on the album is the opening excerpt and what I would consider to be the highest point, the screaming wall out sound which dominates the middle stretch of the final track.

Part the Second is a 4 out of 5 for me, right on the cusp of being something more. I recommend it for anybody, provided you keep an open mind. This is an album which requires a lot of concentration. So do not expect to get the most out of it if you leave it playing in the back ground.