AMOR VINCIT OMNIA

Pure Reason Revolution, or PRR, is a rather interesting band in the sphere of contemporary prog rock. They take a page from The Pineapple Thief and Porcupine Tree, but instead of going to a more Radiohead type sound, they instead take another page from the book of Muse, going for this heavy, space, and alt rock sound that is filled with electronics, and for the most part I think it works quite well. A lot of their albums, especially their post hiatus albums of Eupnea and Above Cirrus, are very enjoyable, and I do not think they have made a truly bad album, but I also do not think they made a masterpiece either. For me, I do not really see them as the same tier as other prog bands like Genesis or The Mars Volta where you just HAVE to listen to them. This is mostly due to their 2 weaker albums of Amor Vincit Omnia and Hammer And Anvil, though out of the two I feel like Amor Vincit Omnia is the weaker album.

Now for Amor Vincit Omnia, the band diverted their sound away from their more central space rock prog routes with The Dark Third, in favor for a more overtly electronic alt rock sound that was starting to gain some notoriety with groups like Muse and Thirty Seconds To Mars using similar beats at the time, which, to be frankly honest, is not quite a bad change. It certainly isn't a preferred change to me, but I definitely am not opposed to the idea of bands changing their sounds to be a bit more commercial. I praised The Mars Volta's self-titled record despite them not having a prog sound in that album, and I really like some 80s Genesis and Yes tunes.

So, that being said, why do I think PRR does not really do a good job with the different cards they are playing with here? I say it is mostly due to it feeling a little shallow in its waters. I definitely say they do a decent job at this whole synth pop sound quite well, especially in Chloe Alper's keyboards, and the mixed male and female vocals that work just as well as they did on The Dark Third. But overall I feel like they are not playing to their fullest in this new environment. They definitely got better with Hammer And Anvil, but I think they reel back the punches just so much that they start to sound less like PRR and more like Muse copycats.

Now I will say, when the songs do hit, they are pretty great. Apogee / Requiem For The Lovers, Deus Ex Machina, and The Gloaming are really good electro alt songs that have that nice PRR energy, with those crisp guitars, synths, and artsy space rock flairs that make revisiting this album worth it. I also think, while the output is lackluster for the most part, it is not bad. For what the band achieves, there is no song on here that I felt was totally bad, or just skippable. In fact I like all the songs on here since I think the output they have here is pretty serviceable. This is far from a totally great record, but it is also away from a totally bad record.

I think the best, and last thing I have to say about this record is that it is decent. It is neither bad nor good, and when it works, it works like a charm, but when it doesn't it definitely feels like a bump to PRR's road. If you want to check out PRR, I suggest going for this last. I doubt you'll get super disappointed hearing it, but I can assure you that you won't find the best experience for this band with this one.

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