Album Review

Pericardium – Salutary

• 26th Jul 2009

Hard to know what to expect from the cover art to Pericardium’s new mini album. Looking at the tripped-out design and eccentric typefaces I braced myself for something outside of my usual musical comfort zone “please” I thought “don’t let it be black metal”.

The laid-back opening arpeggios of “Salutary” are a relief, it’s a chilled sound on the brief intro track, though the lyrics and melody share a foreboding vibe and, around one minute thirty in, we crash breathlessly into the aggressive metal sound of “A hymn for Doves to the Rhythm of Hawks”, it’s riffs galore, recalling the heyday of thrash though the vocals remain tuneful enough and easy on the ears. Then the band seem to kick back for a couple of mellowed, jazzy tracks, resembling classic Incubus a little on “21st Century” and “Unattainable”, both buoyed by prominent bass grooves and sounding very much like the long-haired Californian beach bums the band resemble in their publicity photo.

“Elliptic Corridor” is an instrumental but I’m never tempted to skip as it’s kept interesting with soaring melodic riffs and more exemplary bass work, it’s followed by “Ataraxia’s End”, an album high, a heady groove interrupted by an out-of-nowhere thrash interlude replete with Kerry King-esque guitar soloism that remarkably somehow fits. The closing double bill of “The Mist of May” and “Neverending” are a return to the chiller and see the album out nice and tuneful.

It’s difficult to pin down Pericardium’s sound, it slips between rich grooves and overdriven metalism, all delivered with virtuosity. Whatever you want to call it though, there are no dull moments on this strong eight-track LP.