AT THE SOUND OF THE BELL

Pavlov's Dog will probably always be overlooked by prog fans, but for no good reason. The music does tend to fall more on the safe side, almost going into pop like territory, but still remains more progressive than acts such as Supertramp or ELO.

At The Sound Of The Bell contains a collection of classic symphonic tracks. Lush mellotron atmospheres are reinforced by violin and viola to add a powerful atmosphere to the tracks. Very little is present in terms of technicality but the compositions are superb and reveal layers and layers of depth after repeated listening. Songs here again are very symphonic and never venture into anything aggressive or heavy. They are essential all rather romantic ballads. The entire album is very emotional due greatly to David Surkamp's vocals. At this point many listeners will be divided as Surkamp's distinctive voice is bound to not attract all listeners. He sounds like a higher pitched Geddy Lee, yes that is possible, but he's a much different singer and overall better. He has great sustain and employs a large emotive range which really act as the backbone to the songs.

Sometime though the songs do seem to fall too far onto the pop side, sounding like over emotive wedding songs at some points I may even say. The sound is original, but not exactly doing anything incredibly creative besides doing the impressive job of pushing prog closer and closer to pop hits while retaining its integrity.

A rather unique sounding band that is sure to attract fans from the symphonic genre. Liking or at least tolerating Surkamp's vocals will be necessary to enjoy the album as they are ever-present and pivotal to the sound. A 3.5 star getter here, not as good as the debut, but not much different.