Perihellium – The New Beginning                  7/10

By N. Lynn

Perihellium are a trio from Poland, joined by guest singer Marcin Sulek and keyboard duties tended to by producer Grzegorz Kasprzyk.  Guitarist Gerard Wróbel wrote most of the music and lyrics, with help by Sulek and bassist Bartek Bachula on "The Traveller".

Over the first half of The New Beginning, we are presented with a pair of instrumentals that bookend a pair of songs that introduce two characters who will return for the 19-minute epic that closes the album.

“Chrome” sounds a lot like an introduction to many different prog metal albums, with Perihellium romping through a few different ideas to set the tone for the rest of the album.  "Redd" has a very cool bass driven, guitar enhanced Egyptian/Middle-Eastern vibe, while the band slows things down for “The Traveller”, which is where I couldn't help but think of fellow Polish progsters Riverside.  “Dream Within A Dream” is the better of the two stand-alone instrumentals, allowing their influences to show, as well as give the band a chance to imprint their own sound alongside what has come before them.

The album's closer, “Beyond The Time” brings things together, telling an apocalyptic tale of five survivors searching for each other.  Spread out across five parts (although I hear seven distinct parts), the song first brings in Sol, the main character, who provides the first clues as to the link between the rest of the songs.  After the first listed instrumental section, The Ancient makes an appearance and tells of what happened on the 'Final Day'.  The Lord Of Dreams, who was only implied by “Dream Within A Dream” is mentioned as Sol returns to the front of the pack and finishes out the song's last two parts with his death and resurrection as one of the immortal 'Silents'.

For the most part, the lyrics on The New Beginning make sense, although it may not come across to everyone at the same time.  Some lines will sound awkward, which I would have to think is a matter of language, word order and how comfortable the band is with English.  Still, it's not too difficult to figure out what the songs are about and what he's trying to say.  Well, okay, there are a few exceptions where you may be left wondering for a while what it is you think you just heard.

To be honest, Marcin Sulek's accent does have an effect on the songs, providing for some odd pronunciations (although I don't think his accent is to blame for them all), dropped sounds and blunt delivery of certain phonemes, namely 'th' sounds becoming 'd' sounds.  His accent seems strongest during “Beyond The Time”, most evident during the spoken passage that starts “The End Of The Ancients”, although like most singers, his speaking voice doesn't really reflect his singing voice. Some more time working on the vocals - Sulek's enunciation and pronunciation - would have helped greatly. 

Despite the rough spots, this is a rather enjoyable album that has grown on me since I first started listening to it and is a good start for these guys.  Like most debuts, there are things one can find that can use improvement, Perihellium being no exception to the rule.  Some more musical honing to fill out and define their sound, combined with a bit more time and attention to the lyrics and Marcin's vocals are all this band needs to propel them towards the upper ranks of progdom.

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