I absolutely loved the previous Pattern-Seeking Animals records Friend Of All Creatures (2025, see review) and Spooky Action At A Distance (2023, see review), so I was really looking forward to Grimalkin, the sixth studio album of John Boegebold, Ted Leonard, Jimmy Keegan, and Dave Meros. Grimalkin, which is the 16th-century English variation of "graymalkin" (gray cat), features eight new tracks, of which four are longer ones- meaning, all around the eight minutes mark - and two of those, namely Break Away and Slowly Fails The Flying Man, are the true highlights of this album. Pattern-Seeking Animals start this album with Maybe All A Dream and it is a great opening track indeed, as it is unmistakenly Pattern-Seeking Animals, meaning very melodic, versatile, featuring great vocals and soaring guitar work by Leonard and the "powerhouse" Meros (bass guitar) and Keegan (drums) also do an extraordinary job indeed. Follow up A Flower Yet To Grow is again a very melodic prog rock track displaying the excellent songwriting of Boegebold, who of course also takes care of the wonderful synths' melodies and passages in his song. Jade Sky and Traveller On The Wrong Road Home (great title by the way...) are decent Pattern-Seeking Animals -songs, but they do not really stand out here, as they have maybe too many familiar Pattern-Seeking Animals-patterns indeed. The shortest song on Grimalkin is called Things I Don't Do, it lasts only two minutes and forty seconds, and it is a rather simple ballad-like love song, which I tended to skip every time I listened to this album..... Next up, Break Away is one of the two, the other being Slowly Fails The Flying Man, spectacular highlights of this album, as here you can enjoy Pattern-Seeking Animals at their musical best. This is pure prog rock played at its best and a wonderful treat to the ears of anyone who also enjoys Spock's Beard and Enchant. Ted Leonard really shines as a singer and versatile guitarist on these two outstanding songs and Break Away and Slowly Fails The Flying Man truly belong to the best Pattern-Seeking Animals songs ever! Grimalkin ends with a rather short track called I Dream The World, which features a goosebump, melodic guitar solo, ending this album wonderfully indeed. So, Pattern-Seeking Animals sixth studio album is definitely a contester for prog rock album of the year 2026! **** Martien Koolen (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
