LIVE AT NEARFEST 2007

Two years after the release of The Dark Third, PRR offers a live session recorded at the Nearfest 2007. The release of the studio album came as a bombshell in the world of progressive rock, and the try was converted first time.

But to judge the true value of a band, it is essential to see them progress on stage. PRR proposes us this face to face with this live album.

The line-up performs in a reduced size: keyboardist and violinist James Dobson, and third guitarist Gregory Jong do not show up. Performing within that set-up (4 members) allows forgetting the production being a little bit too massive on the studio album, and provides more depth to the harmonic work.

The group posted a nice solidarity, a great team spirit, not a hitch on the horizon: technical nature, homogeneity, the concert is adjusted as on music paper, leaving little or no room for improvised sequences. Lack of daring? Certainly!

The album features 12 songs including 2 unreleased pieces (Deus Ex-machina, Victorious Cupid) that will appear on their next opus. Having the English edition, I was not familiar with 'NIMOS & Tambos' and' Arrival / The Intention Craft '. The hinge of the concert consists of the trilogy 'The Bright Ambassadors of Morning', 'Voices in Winter / In the Realms of the Divine' and 'The Twyncyn / Trembling Willows', pieces in which the group reaches its theatrical fullness.

The melodic and atmospheric passages find the way between guitar atomic explosions sounding like Porcupine Tree; the instrumental passage on Voices sweeps his notes as a tidal wave, clearly one of the most powerful time on the album! But obviously, The Twyncyn heaves onto the top of the mast, carrying everything away in its path, a call of pure happiness. I sometimes regret that Chloe Arper did not take the lead vocal more often, seizing the opportunity to highlight her very melodic voice.

Arrival / The Intention Craft is a very nice surprise, and completed a concert of well-made technique for a combo with such a young stage experience!

In contrast to some live albums, the production here is of excellent quality, creating the necessary instrumental energy for some pieces as Voices and The Twyncyn, enhanced by some ethereal sound.

I am expecting one more thing: the release of their second album...