Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Pendragon
Label: Madfish
Release: 2014
Length: 63:45
Rating: 3/5
»Men Who Climb Mountains« is the tenth studio album from the British neo-prog institution Pendragon and the follow-up to 2011’s »Passion«. The band went through one lineup change in the meantime, as longtime drummer Scott Higham was replaced (officially for personal reasons) by Craig Blundell. Unsurprisingly, that didn’t radically change their sound or stylistic approach, since the main songwriter is still guitarist/singer and band chieftain Nick Barrett. Among neo-prog fans, Barrett is prized mostly for his outstanding guitar chops and less for his vocal skills, and Pendragon wouldn’t be nearly as revered today if Barrett hadn’t been working successfully since the mid-eighties with keyboard wizard Clive Nolan (Arena, Shadowland) and seasoned bassist Peter Gee, with whom he forms the core of this cult band.
Ever since the album »Pure« (2008), Pendragon have in fact been cultivating a much darker and more uncompromising style than in the previous two decades, when the positive vibe of the arrangements and lyrics on some of their older work made them the ‘cheerful guys’ of neo-prog. »Men Who Climb Mountains« is a noticeably different album from its predecessor, even though the trademark ‘tricks’ remain the same: Barrett’s melancholic guitar solos, Nolan’s dramatic symphonic arrangements and Gee’s melodic bass lines build a complex, tense atmosphere across the songs, through which Nick delivers his varied lyrics.
This time Nolan allowed himself far more traditionalist, classicist arrangements and, at Barrett’s songwriting and arranging initiative, dropped the electronic textures that were fairly common on »Passion«. That means the band no longer tries to sound ‘modern’ after being criticized in the past for leaning too heavily on the ideas and motifs of the seventies prog classics. The two main problems with this otherwise quality effort are an excessive lack of melody and a shortage of memorable moments, which is rather odd for Nick Barrett, who used to be a master of writing melodic arrangements.
»Men Who Climb Mountains« opens on a rather uninspiring, slow and almost depressing note with the track »Belle Ame«, which is full of Nick’s sentimental ‘whining’ and drawn-out strumming of one-dimensional, basic chords that go nowhere. The mood gets a bit of a lift later on from Nolan’s orchestral curtains. This kind of fairly unfortunate album opener is far from the first time it’s happened to Pendragon in their career. On the solid but somewhat overstretched »Beautiful Soul«, which puts a melodic, uplifting chorus front and center, Pendragon suddenly ‘grow some horns’, illustrated by Barrett’s more aggressive singing style and some crunching heavy riffs, which gives the album a slight boost. »Come Home Jack« opens with melancholic guitar noodling, where Barrett once again deserves credit for still being one of the better neo-prog guitarists, and has a pretty long intro before this ‘mourning’ track gets even remotely interesting.
»In Bardo«, with its refined harmonies where melancholic guitar passages and piercing synth textures are subtly interwoven, is one of the album’s best moments and a hint of a somewhat more interesting second half. »Faces of Light« is a solid, positive-leaning ballad, where the backing vocal harmonies in the chorus stand out in particular, flowing through the uplifting arrangement. That’s an old, tried-and-tested trick for Pendragon, but it still works on the atmospheric side. »Faces Of Darkness« has some very interesting dramatic touches, especially Nolan’s neo-Victorian keyboard arrangements, while positive and dark atmospheric shades keep trading places. The only thing most listeners will remember from »For When The Zombies Come«, an otherwise completely average effort, is Barrett’s gorgeous guitar improvisations, which the man never disappoints with.
The epic »Explorers of the Infinite« turns out much more interesting, maybe even the high point of the whole album, with its Celtic-flavored arrangement and mystical atmosphere, backed by melodic bass lines and delicate guitar variations while mighty symphonic curtains swell in the background. Nolan complements Barrett superbly on the vocal harmonies too, which is especially audible on the closer »Netherworld«. In approach it’s the nearest thing to some of Pendragon’s older compositions, especially from the album »Not Of This World« (2001), and it will particularly please longtime fans who swore by the band’s era when Nick was obsessed with recreating the sound of classic Pink Floyd in modern times.
»Men Who Climb Mountains« is a good album, but no more than that. For a band with this kind of reputation and mileage it lands a little below the usual expectations, though Pendragon have clearly left their artistically most daring days behind them, so there will be ever fewer special surprises down the road, especially in the direction of positive sonic evolution. The second half of the album, particularly through the tracks »In Bardo, »Explorers of the Infinite« and »Netherworld«, does bring some interesting songwriting ideas, atmospheric improvements and less sentimental ‘whining’ against the pastoral backdrop that Mr. Barrett overdoes at times on this record. Still, it’s not enough to get this album anchored in the neo-prog pantheon, the way some of their past efforts managed to do.
Lineup
Nick Barrett – vocals, guitar
Clive Nolan – keyboards, backing vocals
Peter Gee – bass guitar
Craig Blundell – drums
Production
Nick Barrett and Karl Groom
Track list
1. Belle Ame (3:15)
2. Beautiful Soul (8:03)
3. Come Home Jack (10:51)
4. In Bardo (4:52)
5. Faces of Light (5:50)
6. Faces of Darkness (6:25)
7. For When the Zombies Come (7:33)
8. Explorers of the Infinite (11:09)
9. Netherworld (5:47)
