PSYCHOSOLSTICE

After my first listen through, I was already composing a review in my head, thinking that Pinkroom had an album worth raving about and that I would give them 5 stars, hands down. But I had a chance to listen to the album again and the second time I was not so deeply impressed. Now I have listened to it a couple more times and I have a clearer idea about what I want to say.

Pinkroom are labeled here as heavy prog, though I hear a lot of post rock, post metal, experimental metal, and even a bit of tech or industrial. Basically, their music embodies much of the modern progressive rock genres. If at any point they do anything retro, it's in the interesting instrumental "Moodroom v.2" which includes a jazzy trumpet solo and some mellow cello, a piece which some reviewers have stated is reminiscent of King Crimson.

Many of the songs go through tempo changes, starting with clean electric guitar and a melancholic atmosphere before abruptly shifting to a crunching heavy riff with a crazy odd beat. The songs will change gears again, often a few times. The riffs are metallishly mad, really cool stuff, at times. This is where I am reminded of Porcupine Tree's "Deadwing", songs that have a calm, eerie or melancholic mood that then evolve into heavy metal riffing before shifting again. By the third listen, however, I also felt there was some "Heritage"-type Opeth there (see drumming comment below), and a bit of Baroness in parts, but without the sludge-style vocals. There's also a part in "2am" that reminds me of classic prog-metal era Voivod. And of course, as many have already mentioned, there's some Riverside in the music too. Add to that the very talented drumming with a distinctive jazzy shuffling flare and you get an overall exciting mix of sounds.

A couple of songs start out with the heavier guitar, like "2am" and "Days which should not be", very much metal tunes until they change over to clean electric guitars. "Quietus" is the one truly different track here, an instrumental that's slow and ambient with piano keys and atmospheric guitar effects, a lot like mid-90's Porcupine Tree.

Back to the vocals, there are times when they sound very commonplace, almost like some of the milder alternative bands that came out of the 80's. But you might notice the accent in the English, something that sometimes adds a bit of appeal.

If there's anything I have to say critically about the album is that I find most of the songs follow a similar formula and tempo. Aside from "Quietus", the songs pretty much stay mid- tempo, nothing too slow or too fast. And most songs follow the clean guitar beginning with heavy guitar added in when necessary. But that's just the basic framework. Within each song there are some wonderful odd time signatures and bizarre beats, sudden stops and starts, and a general avoidance of standard song structure. Pinkroom have done a darn good job of their debut, and with very clean and clear production as well.

I found this album while exploring iTunes' "related" albums when I was checking out another band of similar ilk called In the Silence. They are not on PA yet, but the CD is on order and once I have heard it all the way through I'll see about recommending it for inclusion to this illustrious site if it fits the criteria.

Anyway, final conclusion, 4 stars and a very solid 4 at that for Pinkroom's "Psychosolstice" (love the title!).