HALMA

Broad Peak is the more relaxed positive daylight mood album, whereas Back to Pascal is the darker one. Particularly, Broad Peak has more conventional if calm and relaxed bass lines as opposed to the super low frequency static bass of Pascal. Broad Peak has somewhat more variation, it isn't that much dominated by a sound concept as is Pascal, but that isn't really difficult, and surely it doesn't mean Peak is a very varied album by general standards.

Regarding the quality of the tracks, Broad Peak is also more varied. I love Tracks 1, 2, and 8, Folden Fog, Opal, and Pacific Telegram. On these the band comes up with delicate tasteful melodic motifs that have an addictive quality. The other tracks, although all nice to listen to, seem less inspired. Maybe Formed in a Vacuum is the next best, the one with most development and dynamic on the album. Some others are so smooth and calm, they don't give the listener anything to put their teeth into. It's all enjoyable as a background but I'd really only put the album on for the three to four named tracks.

Overall I end up with the same 3 star rating as for Pascal, but here some stuff is higher, some lower, whereas Pascal is very consistent. And remember, 3 means "good but non-essential", if I give 3 stars it surely deserves the "good" label, so if relaxed post rock is your kind of thing, try this one out.

In fact, Back to Pascal is a very minimalist album. It is all about sound and atmosphere. The tracks are very repetitive, with an intentionally slow speed of rhythm and slow development. It's a very relaxed and relaxing music, but not light and happy; it uses a sound palette that rather evokes twilight or even the darker hours. There is a very deep bass tone that dominates things, mostly running monotonously through the tracks, very economical light touch drums (evoking Lee Harris on the last Talk Talk albums) that occasionally gain a bit of speed and intensity through the tracks, equally economical guitar playing, and tastefully woven in keyboard and sound effects that only appear in the background, as is the very occasional use of voice - keeping in mind that there isn't really much of a foreground for that background.

This music surely has its qualities for the right listener in the right kind of mood. Personally I can enjoy it from time to time, however there isn't enough variety for me to get really enthusiastic about it. Now of course the lack of variety is to some extent intentional; the one million dollar question is how much of that do you want even in intentionally monotonous music? It's 2.9 stars keeping in mind what most prog fans are looking for, but don't let yourself be put off if you're up for this kind of thing! It is special, no doubt.