According to their biography, “Pallas was formed in Aberdeen, Scotland in 1974 under the initial monicker of Rainbow. When Deep Purple’s Ritchie Blackmore decided to form his own band called Rainbow, a change of name was called for and Pallas were born”. Following up from the impressive “Beat The Drum”, Pallas come back with this masterpiece “Cross And The Crucible (their 4th release). Quoting their record label, InsideOut Music America, “The new album was inspired by the band’s fascination with the human condition and our incredible ability to do wonderful, beautiful, things while, also being capable of incredible cruelty.”
Pallas, along with IQ, Marillion and Twelfth Night revitalized an all but dead genre of music. “Cross And The Crucible” is a mature well produced release that showcases the technical ability of these musicians. It contains influences and elements of early days of prog and also new and modern elements. This album is powerful, moving, very melodic. The sound and production are very great, especially the drums and bass. All the songs are excellent, but the highlights to me are “Cross And The Crucible”, “For the Greater Glory” “Towers of Babble” and “Midas Touch”. Alan Reed sounds eerily similar to Fish (Marillion) but the songs are distinctive from Marillion or Fish’s solo material. As with most quality progressive CD’s, you must listen to “Cross And The Crucible” several times the to understand and find the rich variety of the music.