Short Reviews [Progatom - 2018 - "Spiral"]

‘Spiral’ is the second album from this Norwegian quintet, following on from 2015’s ‘Sagittarius A’. Probably the most well-known member of the band is guitarist Mattis Sorum, previously in Pictorial Wand. With a name such as theirs, the band are setting out their stall for all to see, knowing that there will be many who can’t get past that, while at the same time also setting themselves up for the critics to take pot shots at them. None of this is really fair, as while this isn’t a classic album in any sense of the word, it actually isn’t that bad either. Here is a band who aren’t afraid to bring in classic keyboard sounds, have plenty of harmony vocals, can really rock when the time is right yet are also happy to have reflective acoustic guitars or reverbed piano with little room for error. There is a huge amount here to love, but for some reason for all the times when it really shines there are also times when it misses the mark. Due to multiple reasons I have played this album far more than I normally would when coming to a review, but I still can’t settle and don’t know why. Some numbers, such as the instrumental “Sirkel” are simply stunning with their layered early 70’s hard progressive sound, dominated by driving guitar, but as for some of the others… I am sure this album is going to find a great deal of fans out there but I am going to hold judgement until I hear something else from the band. Maybe next time.