'Pale Mannequin' is a new Polish formation which was created in 2016 by 'Tomasz Izdebski' and which released their first studio recording, Patterns in Parallel, in 2019 and 'Colors of Continuity' is therefore their second album released in May 2021. After a first listen, we find influences from different formations of progressive rock, and even if the progressive side is not particularly emphasized, they offer us a first varied album which mixes different styles alternating different atmospheres ranging from atmospheric to metal, the whole being divided between accessible titles and others requiring some listening to tame them well.
'The Sleeper' opens the album with a mid-tempo in a style reminding me of certain titles from 'RPWL' deploying a sort of quiet force, then, 'Inkblot' hardens the tone slightly with melodic lines quite close to 'U2' offering a memorable chorus, and, with 'Scattered', the atmosphere is much quieter and the slow tempo accompanied by an acoustic guitar unrolls a melody in slight crescendo. Follows 'Most Favorite Trap' which offers a lively tempo supported by a rhythm guitar with fast back and forth and which has a nice rhythmic break in the last part, then, 'Inertia' is much more progressive, the alternations of power and intensity being more numerous, the rhythm section being clearly more supported in certain places but leaving a good place for other quieter parts (listen to the magnificent final practically a capella) which makes it a less immediate composition but all the more remarkable. More direct, 'Maniac's Mind' is a track built around a fairly repetitive melody, then, the eponymous track of the album deploys its almost 11 minutes in a rather heavy and complex atmospheric atmosphere which offers a crescendo eyeing towards dark metal with growls and which alternates different sections highlighting instrumental solos, the last part in decrescendo being much more classic with a catchy melody supported by voices which gives way to an atmospheric finale. 'In Mono' closes the album beginning with altered sound effects and gives us an instrumental track enriched by spoken passages.
In summary, we knew that Poland was a reservoir of progressive rock groups and 'Pale Mannequin' is added to it, not necessarily in the same style as 'Riverside', 'Millenium' or even 'Loonypark', but by bringing their own personality mixing different influences which makes it an original formation which should appeal to an audience loving a rock alternating accessible titles and others more complex requiring that one linger there, all this being coated by a few pinches of progressive... | |
