The Brits Pod Pearson (guitars, vocals, synthesiser) and Richard Memmott (bass, vocals, keyboards) have been working together for several years and their "conspiracy" has already led to some albums that were unknown to me until now. With Apocrypha they even deliver their fourth album since 2015. Dean Cousins completes the ensemble The Pearson Memmott Conspiracy, PMC for short, on drums and percussion. Given the advanced age of these musicians, we can assume that a lot of experience has been gained and that appears to be the case after studying the accompanying info sheet. Among other things, the Rush tribute band Bravado is mentioned and my expectation was that the music of PMC would go in that direction. That may be a bit true, but it is certainly not a clone of the famous Canadians and I find it difficult to mention references because the music is "different" and yet familiar. However, the frivolous bass playing is a link with Geddy Lee and that is of course a big compliment. The first song Driving The Dragon Lady actually gives a bit of a distorted idea of the album because we immediately hear one of the more "proggy" songs. With more than seven minutes, there is room for some variety and you immediately hear that they can all play well. The guitars clearly have the upper hand and the keyboards are mainly supportive. We hear some nice guitar solos and this track forms a nice prelude to the rest. After that, however, it is a bit disappointing, with Communicate! and Talk Is Cheap we get two quite simple rock songs of just over four minutes that have nothing to do with prog but show more of a kind of Brit pop. In terms of vocals, Barclay, James & Harvest sometimes comes up, especially in the harmony vocals. The Other Sea is also a somewhat rippling song that does contain a nice bluesy guitar solo and some heavier chords. Again, the vocal part doesn't really stand out, so also not in a negative sense, which actually applies to both men when they sing solo, but the already mentioned harmony vocals are beautiful. Zirn Left Unguarded starts nicely with some "pinging" on bass and guitar and a keyboard tune with a sound that resembles a flute. With more than seven minutes, this is a somewhat longer song and they take the time to sound a bit more experimental. Sound fragments are followed by brass-like keyboard passages and there is enough variety to ensure the dynamics. A great guitar solo makes for a nice bombastic finale, this is another great song. The text is quite absurd and when the voice of the president of the earth on the phone asks if he can speak to God, it is clear that there is a story behind it with a lot of imagination. All in all, a great song. And who Zirn is exactly....... at least we know he's lost. Hyperion Undone, with high pitched vocals that remind me of Starcastle, and Evil Twin, with its self reflecting lyrics, are more rock-oriented songs where Rush influences can be heard now and then and again it is clear that there is more than enough musical baggage to play technically well. However, the melodies don't really stick with me and the nice ballad Scared can't change that either, despite the fine guitar solo. With its more than eight minutes, Bellerophon is the longest track on the album, that raises high expectations in the sense of variety, and together with the first song and Zirn left unguarded is one of the highlights of Apocrypha. There is clearly more variety and we hear beautiful harmony vocals and very nice instrumental excursions on keys and guitar. Some pieces even remind me of Neil Morse. In the end, I'm left with a classic dilemma; An album with a number of great songs that you could easily describe as prog, but also a number of straightforward songs that don't stick at all and are sometimes even just weak pop songs (Talk Is Cheap). As always, a rating has to come out that has to reflect an average and that is quite difficult in this case because the difference between the tracks is just very big. ***- Erik Fraanje (edited by Tracy van Os van den Abeelen) Where to buy? |
