PARALLEL OR 90 DEGREES - JITTERS - 2009

It's been a while since Andy Tillison and co. saw themselves in a situation in which the continuing recording and gigging career of Parallel or 90 Degrees was put on ice until further notice. Now that the final weeks of 2009 are no the run, the return of PO90 is a fact. Despite the fact that the band is no longer a quintet but a quartet, the comeback album "Jitters" shows the band at the most accomplished expression of sonic power so far. Clearly following in the footsteps of "More Exotic Ways To Die" (the somewhat distant precedent) in terms of muscular architecture and aggressive dynamics, Tillison, Watts, Clarck and King have really granted us an excellent prog item in which excitement and energy share the king's throne. It will be enough to listen to the introductory track (called 'Interlude') to fnd out right away what I'm talking about here. This collection of riffs and motifs that we will find later on throughout the album's repertoire is a magnificent tour- de-force in which the catchy enhancement of the linked riffs is elaborated in pure artsy fashion. The first exercise on exhaustive elaboration after the electrifying prelude is 'Standalone', whose 6? minute timespan displays an overpowering development of exciting melodies and arrangements: do not be fooled by the calm beauty of the brief piano intro. 'Threesome' is far more visceral, electrifying in a Muse-meets-O.S.I. sort of way, plus its touches of contemporary PT all over the place. This is fury dynamically comprised in an intelligent framework. 'Entry Level' goes to softer roads, stated on a funky/soul rhythmic scheme that enables the wilder passages to preserve a relatively constrained mood for good effect. So far, things have gone great and there still some more great stuff in store. 'Backup' insists on the PT pattern under the guise of powerful art-rock on a mid- tempo framework. The interlude gives the band room to expand on their heavier side, in this way generating an implosive psychedelic storm with accentuated connections to the prog-metal standard: Muse-meets-Radiohead with touches of "X"-era Fates Warning?... mmmm? The result is amazing, no doubt in my mind about it. 'The Dock Of The Abyss' is more related to the straightforward dynamics of post-punk and 90s melodic alternative rock, but this is not an indulgent pop song ? the synth ornaments have a patently bizarre flair to them, and so do the prog-metal guitar attacks that emerge somewhere in the middle. This is arguably the most agile song in the album, with 'Standalone', 'Threesome' and 'Backup' signifying the epic highlights. The album's last 7 minutes are occupied by 'On The Death Of Jade', a blatantly modernized song that combines space-rock, Indie and shades of krautrock, fluidly solidified within a nostalgic ambience. In many ways, this song might be enjoyed as a reminiscence of pre-"Exotic Ways" PO90. Full frontal energetic rock in a non-mainstream fashion: this is the offering of "Jitters", this is the sort of artistic challenge that PO90 brings to whoever feels ready to experience what prog rock is all about nowadays.
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