Returning from their debut ep released in spring 2021, Pure Halcyon provides an exciting follow up in the form of a full-length rock album! As the title suggests, Nothing Set in Stone diverges into a diverse pool of creative directions.
Green Day’s raw angst bursts out like an engine on Drive Drive Drive. Flying every direction with bass fills, guitar riffs, and heart-pounding chants, this opener is a real fight or flight race. Like a race from Mad Max or The Fast and Furious, we’re in for a bumpy ride! Johnny Common gives us a story of (as his name suggests) a particularly boring Everyman. With echos of the Red Hot Chili Peppers’ song The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie, this tune has a limping bass riff that Flea’s fingers would muster with ease. Segueing into its second half, bowed strings that build into a sporadic guitar solo are added to up the ante for an epic finale (for none other, then Jonny Common).
The interlude Therefore provides a distant light to walk down the dark corridor towards. A monologue is webbed throughout as subconscious motivation. The sunset atmosphere is reminiscent of Kool and the Gang’s Summer Madness. “For yesterday is but a dream, but tomorrow is only a vision.” And “It seems to me that all of life is preparation.” Encapsulates the nihilistic yet optimistic escape perfectly. Dialing back to the time of Fleetwood Mac yearning for nostalgia, The Color of Rain is a grand power ballad. Providing textures ranging from soft and sentimental to foreboding and ominous (almost like Bon Jovi’s Dead or Alive), this track feels like the group has unlocked all their potential, mastered all their strengths, and as a result, created a grand capstone.
Give Me Forever raises its sword and cuts through with a clean slash to form a Power Metal stance! Smashing through the threshold of mortality makes obtaining omnipotence all the more rewarding. In stark contrast to this 90s extremism, the album ends with a complete 180 via the lead up single, You Suck. Feeling less like Ronnie James Dio, and more like Smash Mouth, the closing tone comes off as mundane, sarcastic, and petty. The words detail rants on the persons lack of respect, commitment, and tasteless behavior. Even if it’s a bit odd, one cannot help but recognize how charming and strange this album goes out on.
Overall, there has been significant improvement and maturity to Pure Halcyon’s sound. Their production and songwriting have gone to more ambitious heights, and their overall presentation has benefited because of that. The riffs, solos, layers, and experimentations were all risks, but they’ve landed more hits than misses. While the flow might not be consistent (such as ending on you suck, or splitting Johnny Common into two parts), the 7 tracks provided had delicate and deliberate care put into them which will make Pure Halcyon one of Washington’s up and coming bands!!
8.5/10