Considering this is essentially a one-man project, Pomegranate Tiger never feels like a solo effort. The scope and array of styles suggest that Canadian Martin Andre has an expansive portfolio of influences.
Ranging from the prog metal of Cynic, Between The Buried And Me and Voivod to the more introspective Dream Theater, Pink Floyd and Tangerine Dream, this is a fluent, articulate series of tracks which each resonate with an individual pallor. It has a heavy instrumental inference, but this is allied to a more sophisticated style that puts the emphasis on orchestral manoeuvres. The combination is potent, in a style that is at times most redolent of Goblin’s soundtracks for 1970s Italian horror movies, along with juxtapositions of guitar flurries amid eerie soundscapes. Opener Manifesto is metallic pomp sidling up against a symphonic melody, while The Masked Ball and Billions And Billions are imaginative and sparkling, as they move across a series of powerful yet intricate musical areas. Boundless reaches its zenith with the darkly invasive Cyclic and then, with a cavalcade of extremities, Ovation concludes one of the most effective albums of 2015.
