PARHELIA - review added 22nd April 2009
Album Review: Shifting Sands (2009)
For fans of: instrumental rock... and mellow vibes
Parhelia are an Irish 4-piece with a penchant for the instrumental side of rock. Shifting Sands is their 3rd release.
This is a really difficult album to mark. It doesn't put a foot wrong from start to finish, but spends so much time playing it safe... it was never likely to put a foot wrong anyway. Phil (guitars), Greg (guitars), Andy (drums) and Cathal (bass) play with harmonies and a skill that will leave you breathless, but it's all as inoffensive as, well, the album cover.
The arrangements, whilst wonderfully flowing and as smooth and silky as chocolate on a freshly shaved bosom, lead nowhere. It seems like the members and the music have found their place of tranquility and are there forever more.
The output isn't cleverly progressive, nor does it boast technically impressive neo-classical speed. It doesn't even manage that sublime chill out sound that makes you want to drift away to a paradise island. It's just stuck somewhere in the middle sounding very pleasant, but in a totally uninspiring fashion
This isn't an album I enjoy giving two R's too because the musicianship deserves more than that. However, the remaining properties - the passion, the catchiness. the emotional fire - are simply not there.
Check out... this album if you want to, because YOU may actually like it.
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