AMOR VINCIT OMNIA

I was very close to not buying this record because of the poor ratings, but fortunately I decided to give it a chance anyway and I am thankful I did! This album might not be as progressive as The Dark Third (TDT), but there are some truly great tunes in between.

Some elements from TDT have been carried on to this record, but in general this is a complete new sound of PURE REASON REVOLUTION and hopefully that will result in the band getting more fans rather than pushing some of the old ones away. Amor Vincit Omnia (AVO) is a great album and should not be compared too much with TDT as the band has moved forward and explores new areas of their musical skills.

The electronic elements work very well, especially on the pick of the album 'Deus Ex Machina'. 'Les Malheurs', 'Victorious Cupid' and 'Bloodless' are also tracks of very high standard and deserve a mention while the nine-minute long 'The Gloaming' develops into a great progressive piece. The album ends with the title trick, shortened 'AVO' which is a beautiful, melancholic end to the three quarters of an hour of one of the best albums of the first quarter of 2009.

AVO is a bold move by PRR and I admire them for making such a powerful and experimental follow-up to their successive debut album. I am very surprised and dissapointed to read all the poor reviews of this album, but I urge you to give it a chance. I was pleasently surprised and I feel that it would be an excellent addition to most prog music collections; though it admittedly lacks some progressiveness it is still an experimental and exciting musical experience.

3.5 stars really, but rounded up to four as it is vastly underrated (2.7 at time of writing).