Short Reviews [Pangaea - 2024 - "Beowulf"]

I was on FB one day and was reading a post by my good friend Olav Martin Björnsen and saw him mention something about the new album from Pangaea. The database in my head came to life so I dropped him a note, surely not the Pangaea I remembered reviewing more than 20 years earlier? Yes it was, so I was soon in contact with the band and was delighted to find that the line-up was still a quintet and the gang was all back together with Andi Schenck (drums, percussion), Corey Schenck (keyboards, guitars), Steven Osborn (vocals, guitars), Ron Poulsen (bass) and Darrell Masingale (guitar). It is strange to think that Andi, Corey, Ron and Darrell were all playing together in 1989, and that Steven joined in 1991, and here in 2024 they are back together with a new release. As I said in my review of ‘A Time and a Place’, I thought it was a great album and was somewhat surprised for there not to be a follow-up but now there is, it just took a little longer than I expected, that’s all. If one compares albums by bands with this length of time between them one will normally see a considerable shift, but given the band were not performing there is no surprise that in many ways this is a logical progression from what they had been doing before. If that was not enough, they once again worked with Robert Berry. This has less of a direct neo prog feel though, and if I was asked to compare with just one band then it would probably be with classic Saga, although still with something more of a melodic rock mix. I am sure there are plenty of prog purists who will decry music like this, saying it is not true to the form, but there is no reason to pigeonhole music as guess what? Music isn’t a pigeon. I was having this discussion earlier with Jerry King, saying “we do what we do because we have a compelling need to do so - we cannot control what others think about it, nor should we, as if all we are trying to do is please others and fit into an expected norm how can we call ourselves artists?” Pangaea have come back from the dead and produced an album which sounds as if they have never been away and I, for one, am absolutely delighted. Just one thing guys, don’t wait so long for the next one! If you enjoy melodic prog then this is a delight from beginning to end.