CD Review: Pigeon Toe - The First Perception

Written by Petra Whiteley Monday, 09 July 2012 13:29

Artist: Pigeon Toe
Title: The First Perception
Genre: Progressive Metal
Release Date: 27th April 2012
Label: Lifeforce Records

Album Review

PIGEON TOE is a meeting point for another project of ex-/members of FEAR MY THOUGHTS, BACKSLIDE and MONGOUSE with their drummer arriving from TRIPTYKON. They toured alongside KARNIVOOL and other bands and their debut album arrived via Lifeforce Records at the end of this April.

‘The First Perception’ seems to be a loose take on Alice in Wonderland type of adventure. The sound reminds you of something of the classical times of the Prog Rock and Art Rock with leaning towards Metal, but that it is not to say that the listen will be in the retro direction. Some references offer themselves, those to OPETH and MASTODON. The word here is that it’s more experimental and not following the formulas, but their feelings and intuitions. This way of creative input can either go against or for them, depending entirely on the tastes and thinking of the listener. There is certain “you’re on a journey” feel to how it stays with not far too diverse and contrasting tempo through most of the songs, and it seems to provide a feeling of a running thread through the album. It’s like examining different facets within one whole entity.

For the listen as a whole, I guess it would quite help to be stoned otherwise it can feel as lacking in cohesion and wondering in a blind spot at times. Some parts come out as far too sleepy (‘Sneak’) only to be thrown apart with a weird shred solo which only disorients the listener - it fails to bring a point home and as a whole it’s chaotic without obvious purpose. ‘The Cave’ will put you to sleep for sure; it feels like pure filler without anything to hold on to as interesting. On the other hand, the most interesting moment came with ‘Wizard pt 1’ & ‘Wizard pt 2’, the first quite a transporting intro and the second a track that holds it together a lot better than many songs here. All three of these songs I just mentioned are instrumentals. The best song out of those that have vocal would be the opening one, where the way they can mix genres comes out truly well and all the elements seem to be tied up really nicely.

Whilst the uniqueness and a very creative rather than slavish approach speak well for the band, they show they can produce some good grooves, complexity and so on, but it seems to be far too lost in empty spaces and as a result losing one’s interest and not lodging into the listener’s memory too strongly for it to remain and impress. It may seem intentional and even give a mirage of “understanding the mysterious” within it, but that is just a mirage; even with repeated listens the flaws remain flaws for sober mind and not hidden treasures. Give them a chance though, even if it’s not completely “there” (yet) it’s a cool listen.


Tracklist

01. The First Perception
02. The Chase
03. Sneak
04. The Cave
05. The Man With The Cat
06. A Broken Man
07. Second Try
08. The Crooked Path
09. The Wizard pt 1
10. The Wizard pt 2
11. The Flashback


Line-up

Norman – Drums
Ben – Bass, Vocals
Marsn – Guitar, Vocals
Hanson – Guitar, Vocals
Hagi – Guitar, Synths


Websites

http://www.pigeontoe.de / http://www.myspace.com/pigeontoeband


Cover Picture




Rating

Music: 7
Sound: 7
Total: 7 / 10