Rocking from Wisconsin, Pangaea is a five-piece band that is bringing thought, ingenuity and pure, unadulterated passion in their music. VESPR is an eight-track journey with Pangaea etching its ebbs and flows into music’s history.
VESPR begins with the longest song on the album, “Survivor’s Guilt”. The calming intro flows into your earbuds, building the atmosphere of the album and teasing what is about to come within the journey of the album. As with all progressive songs, the build up sends goosebumps all over the body, building to the first major peak when the coarse vocals blast through the instruments, the pace switching from fast to slow throughout the duration of the song. The sheer talent of the band shines through, years of practice and previous releases culminating to VESPR.
“Denial” follows suit, sitting as the shortest song on the album and is a tease to the dichotomy of the pace and sound between the songs, and even within the songs as well. “Denial” serves almost as an interlude into track number three, “Eighteen Nights”. Continues the journey, two quick taps of drumsticks hail in a killer guitar riff and a quickening of the album. The fry vocals are laid over the instruments, creating an ordered chaos that flows beautifully into your ears. If somehow your head wasn’t bobbing along with the first two tracks, “Eighteen Nights” will get your head swiveling on your neck, giving small respites here and there, but coming for blood with every other second.
“A Gateway to Nothing” keeps with the explosive intros, the drums pounding away as the guitar chugs and vocals rupture veins. A quick change to rough cleans changes the song, before the structured chaos makes a return. The high intensity sustains itself for the full song, showing the mental and physical strength of each band member, as well as the creativity of them as well.
“Seen in Parallel” sits as the fifth song and slows the journey down. Leading in with mesmerizing clean guitar, a robotic voice soon comes over top. The song slowly builds, with the guitar at the focal point. Right as the song hits a small peak, it trails off again, bringing in atmospheric and angelic back tracks to build the unique sound.
Next is the song “Black Tower”, beginning with soft, clean guitar that sticks around in the background as distorted guitar slams your face into the wall, the demonic vocals adding to the aggression. Littered through the song are sympathy breaks for your neck, which if you have been following along with the album should be in a cast by now, unless you have already ascended to the next plane of existence.
Nearing the end of the journey is “Acceptance”, rain droplets hitting the ground as a guitar ballad is played. The instrumental gradually builds until exploding with the instruments, sending goosebumps up and down your body, setting up the final leg of the journey.
Concluding this magnificent release is the song “The VESPR Session”, picking up right where “Acceptance” left off, wasting no time layering distorted guitar over the static. This album has been coalescing into this one song, displaying why “The VESPR Session” is the title track of the album. If you are a fan of progressive metal and of the progressive metal Gods, this album is a must buy for your collection, you will not be disappointed.
Members:
Vocals: Michael Dionne
Guitar: Trae Titus
Guitar: Evan Webster
Bass: Spencer Fox
Drums: Michael DeMarco
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