AMOR VINCIT OMNIA

Can I just say that I don't get it? I thought the debut from Pure Reason Revolution showed great promise in Progressive Rock and I was pretty excited to see how this band had evolved on Amor Vincit Omnia. What ended up happening was that I put on a techno album by mistake...no wait, this is the new Pure Reason Revolution! I can't stand techno/trance music, so I am completely thrown off by this record. There are some good things, however. I love the vocal harmonies, which is one of the things that drew me to this band in the first place. Sometimes the songs are pretty catchy...but there is hardly anything in this record that could be called progressive rock. Maybe progressive techo, or something to that effect.

"Les Malheurs" has a pretty standard beat that gets tiring to me about halfway through the track. "Victorious Cupid" is probably the only track that I honestly can get into. There is some powerful guitar riffs, and the vocals are truly glorious, and it sounds like something that could have been on the last record. There is a great jam towards the end that really is exciting, and made me hope that the first track was just a mistake and the album would get better from here on out...

But that just isn't the case. "Apogee" is just boring to me with an annoying rhythm that just keeps repeating itself endlessly. It gets better towards the end with some heavenly vocals, but it isn't enough to save the track from mediocrity to me. "Deus Ex Machina" is even worse, sounds like pretty generic pop to me. How dissapointing.

"Bloodless" is pretty boring and gets pretty repetitive. I don't feel any connection to "Disconnect", it is just a bland track to my ears. "The Gloaming" is the longest track on the record, but it seems too long and the techo aspects of it really grate on my nerves. And, then the album ends with another boring track that gets repetitive rather quickly: "Avo".

I'm sorry there isn't more I could say about the tracks, but to me that is the primary problem here, the tracks lack substance. I love the vocals, that is my favorite aspect of this record. The blend of these voices is truly magical. But, I just can't stand the bland techno that is going on behind it. I know there are many who would vehemently disagree with my assessment, but that is how I feel as I listen to this record. Oh well, I guess its just not for me.