Timothy Pure - Blood Of The Berry



1. Thieves (3:19) 2. The Aberration (3:52) 3. Blood Of the Berry (2:34) 4. Private Hedge (5:27) 5. Slide (5:26) 6. The Afterglow (1:59) 7. The Interim (1:12) 8. Without Words (6:56) 9. Ornament (4:17) 10. Magdelena Hell (5:55) 11. Where Mercy Ends (4:00) 12. Incineration Point (4:14) 13. Through the Fountain's Eye (4:37) 14. When Vices Collide (4:29)

Total Running Time: 58:26




Some of you might recall our last Timothy Pure review a few weeks ago, in which we introduced the group with its sophomore album The Island of the Misfit Toys. Tracing its roots even deeper, we now arrive to the band's debut Blood of the Berry, an admirable introductory release for the prog scene with which a musical statement was quite clearly made: these guys aren't messing around. A mere listen to any of Timothy Pure's songs quickly brings to mind either one of these two artists: Pink Floyd, the majestic exponents of embodied progressive and psychedelic rock, or that band's modest, trippy, psyche-driven orphan son, Porcupine Tree. Obviously, this band is not exactly on any of those leagues, but their being unrecognized certainly isn't a synonym of being unworthy of praise on the scene.

The band lays down excellent intricate and moody melodies accompanied by incessant mellow synth layers and warm Gilmouresque guitar interludes. "Ornament," for instance, begins with a smooth piano melody and a whispery background ambience; an excellent surrounding for the vocals to freely evoke emotional moods. Another album highlight is without a doubt "Magdelena Hell," which might just as well be one of the most representative songs of the band, slowly building up and reaching a comfortable space for it to slightly improvise and take the "feel" of the song to the next level.

Virtually every track in this debut record is an amazing display of the band's creative songwriting and great compositional approaches, as they complement each other perfectly through most passages on a deep musical level. There's only one aspect of this release that fails in dragging me deep into the record, which is the lack of excitement as the album evolves. Although most songs are truly admirable in a compositional aspect, they basically stay along the same lines, not offering much diversity from track to track. Still, this minor mishap can easily be overlooked in comparison to the final outcome of the record, which, I admit, is pretty damn good.

Timothy Pure certainly has a solid musical core behind it and promises to be a band capable of making a name for itself, withholding immense potential that's just waiting to be released and only requiring a more focused arranging approach. In the meantime, Blood of the Berry will surely manage to keep your hands full.

-by Javier Elizondo

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