Album Review: Artifex Pereo

Artifex Pereo have cleverly positioned themselves within a musical sphere in which they can do pretty much whatever they want. Their sound will appeal to fans who enjoy any of the many facets of rock, progressive, melodic, technical, aggressive, energetic, the list goes on.

The way in which they have combined these many elements is where 'Time in Place' finds its strengths. The whole record is a literal thrill ride which will keep you guessing and entertained to say the least. Sure, at times it seems like the group may have lost their way, the mildly frantic rumblings of Laugh & the World Laughs With You for example, but on the whole the ship steers true.

There is careful balance of chaos that the group is able to manage quite well in tracks like the single Hands of Penance, the guitar work recalls a style similar to Fall Of Troy while vocally the high pitched melodic croon of Lucas Worely is not to dissimilar to Pierce The Veil. Instrumentally, the group toys with various delays and tones. The introduction of keys and organs fillsout the sound and provides a healthy amount of layers. Equally, the vocals may hold the melody but they are never really the focus.

A notable point to this album however is the production, which manages to give clarity to what could otherwise be chaos. People who may know the group's previous EPs, which they recorded in garages, will not have truly heard their music before. The overall sound manages to capture the group's intricacies without losing any of the energy or mayhem that six people can create.

It's not all a whirlwind ball of energy however as Artifex Pereo slow things down at the end of the airy Overview, a song which doesn't really do any justice to the music that has come before it. The band hits their strengths early on in the piece with opener No Stranger To Worry, which leans more towards progressive rock yet loaded with enough unique elements to get you real excited about this group.

'Time in Place' is an impressive take on a sound (and genre?) that has yet to really hit its stride and Artifex Pereo could well be the ones to take it there.

1. No Stranger To Worry

2. To Listen & Say Nothing

3. Hands of Penance

4. Annica

5. Laugh & the World Laughs With You

6. Liable For Tragedy

7. The Straight & Winding Way

8. Apeiron

9. The Golden Age

10. Cut Sign

11. Weep & You Weep Alone

12. Tied to the Sunset