Short Reviews [Pledge Of Healing - 2023 - "One Step Closer"]

This is the debut album by French duo Cyril Delvallez (guitars, keyboards, programming, bass, vocals) and Claire Sergue (vocals) who were assisted by some guests in the form of David Hazak (bass), Alex Soubry (guitars), Cedric Argoff (guitars) and Laurent Leyder (bass), and they have combined to produce an album which is both atmospheric and, at times, incredibly powerful, always designed to show off the vocals of Claire. This is progressive rock music as a genre, as opposed to an ideal, which also brings in elements of symphonic rock, theatricality and New Age to create something which is very interesting indeed and there are times where it sounds as if they have been heavily influenced by Evanescence. The drum programming is not intrusive, and while fairly basic it does fit in well, while there are passages where there is no drumming at all, and Cyril happily switches between rock guitar and more ambient styles, piano and keyboards, all of which is designed to provide the right platform for Claire. It is a very modern sounding release, which is also quite commercial in its approach, which means it is incredibly easy to listen to on the first time of playing, yet there is enough within the arrangements to keep the listener coming back for more, while Claire’s clear unaccented English vocals are wonderful throughout. She can seem quite twee at times, then at others she is an out and out belter, with a production which is both smooth and quite open. There is not much space within the album, with the accompaniment coming through almost as a solid entity with Claire then placing her vocals on top, but the result is something which is enjoyable, nonetheless. I am also impressed that they have made this a physical release as opposed to just digital, not something which that many new bands do these days, and even more impressed that they deemed it suitable to send one all the way to New Zealand to ask for my opinion. This is a nice album, fresh and full of ideas which are often based in the atmospheric area of prog and is something which is worthy of investigation.