You know, I would never have expected a band who released a few albums in the late 2000s to surge back a decade later and produce album after album of quality music. Pure Reason Revolution experienced a decade gap between albums, but since 2020, they’ve now released four good albums. The latest is Terrifying Angels, which launches tomorrow, September 25th.
The UK’s PRR have seen their fair share of lineup changes, but this current group is really working together well. The lineup for this album is Jon Courtney on vocals, guitar, keyboards, piano, and programming; Greg Jong on vocals, guitar, keyboards, and harmonica; Annicke Shireen on vocals; and Ravi Kesavaram on drums. You’ll also hear Mariusz Duda (ex-Riverside, Lunatic Soul) and Kristoffer Gildenlöw (ex-Pain of Salvation) on bass.
The band plays a kinetic, fast-paced, rip-roaring progressive rock that feels modern, youthful, and often fun. The guitars are terrifically heavy when they need to be, the keys swell with gorgeous melodies, and the vocal harmonies between Jon and Annicke are absolutely fantastic—probably the highlight for me.
But you know what? The band blends ambient, introspective portions into some songs, creating psychedelic, even Floydian atmospheres that are truly delicious. I think they tried to do this with 2024’s Coming Up to Consciousness in the form of short interludes, and I don’t think it worked exactly how they imagined. This time, the quieter portions are part of the songs themselves, and it makes for tracks that communicate a wide range of emotions.
Terrifying Angels has seven tracks and some of them are absolute bangers. “Spin Like Fire” opens with a surging, spiraling shorter piece that sets the fiery pace. Then we get the nine-minute “Black-Arrow Acrobats”, one of my favorites. This song was cut down for the single version, but the full piece is even better with its delicate drumming, pensive and pastoral portions, Floydian grace, and loud/quiet dynamics. What a great song!
“Haywire Heart” combines the two, being shorter and intense, but we still get a relatively brief, celestial ambient portion of Annicke’s vocals. It’s lovely. The first half ends with my favorite overall, the title track. This ten-minute piece is truly amazing, leading in with quiet cinema, Floydian nostalgia, and lingering emotions. I love how it floats and meanders a bit, without ever feeling lost. And when the guitars hit, they feel immense. I won’t lie, most of this track is subtle and floaty melodic dreams, but the fiery punctuations of instrumental power craft a song that is perfectly balanced.
The last three tracks are all great. And I really like how they’ve structured this half. “Rumination Ruin” is catchy as hell with some truly beautiful hovering segments. “Below Radiance” is a three-minute ballad of sorts that is almost completely electronic. The vocals are kinda hushed and warm, and I love the feelings this song evokes. It leads into the fifteen-minute closer “Hold Your Wrath”. This piece has all the dreamy, flowing, thoughtful pace the album has provided in smaller doses, but they go all-in here. Much of the runtime is softer and delicate, voices filtering in at times, guitars drifting in and out; but the song slowly rises into vocal harmonies, deeply beautiful and healing in quality, and I just adore how the album closes with that purity and golden embrace.
Pure Reason Revolution has some great albums, and I think this one is near the top for me. Terrifying Angels is put together in a purposeful, calculated way, but the music feels simultaneously reserved and untamed. I love the balance they’ve struck here.
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