The Palimpsest – Primary Review

From the beginning the band affirms that its major influence is Fish the vocalist from Marillion and from his solo career. Well, the fan who knows the band and its music notes this with no doubt from the initial chords of “Death of the Only Child” where his voice addresses a lot to Fish. However, it’s not fair to say that The Palimpsest are a band that is a copycat of Marillion. No, sir, it’s not. A careful and longer listening to “Primary” will reveal some Pink Floyd influences as well. To be more especific from “The Wall” era as in the intro and the children voices here and there. To a Metal fan, The Palimpsest will be a great suggestion because all those influences. Pink Floyd and Marillion are Prog Rock bands that undoubtedly metallers love.

According to the Macmillan Thesaurus the term ‘palimpsest’ means old document with writing removed, written on again. Very old books, especially those from the medieval era, were written in sheep skin so the writings could be removed with a sharp knife or anything like one to write another texts. Many documents from this era were found like this. By ‘primary’ the band means that the writings here are fresh. That they weren’t removed. Or, they are virgin. By all that I guess that The Palimpsest desire to mean that their music is primary. Never touched. Fresh, if you know what I’m saying. “Enough” is the track which I guess represents this idea better as it is an acoustic track with interesting deep lyrics and deep emotional vocalizing. By the way, “Primary” deals with a differet kind of vocalizing emotion. Glamdave, the mastermind of this project and who plays everything in it, exagerates in some parts of the song sometimes stressing the ‘Rs’ to give a more emotional intent to the track. The album also uses lots of white noise as background in tracks as “Times and Tides,” for instance.

In“Primary” The Palimpsest got a sonancy that uses both Prog Rock and some Metal elements, however, it it doesn’t have the elements to be considered Prog Metal. “Primary” is a heavier Prog Rock album with strong guitars and striking guitar solos. The lyrical content is also deeper. By all the background with children and rain and pthers my guess is that each track tells a story. I’m not sure, however, if they are somewhat connected.

Metal fans who sympathize with a heavier Prog Rock will like “Primary” for sure. Even more the ones who are familiar with Marillion.

The Palimpsest “Primary” was released on December 03rd via Musoloco.

Track Listing:

  1. Hello
  2. The Death of the Only Child
  3. Dearly Beloved
  4. The Stranger
  5. Questions
  6. Enough (I’m Tired)
  7. Time and Tides
  8. Miss You
  9. Maybe
  10. Reprise

Watch “Time and Tides” official video here: