Album review: Pure Reason Revolution – Amor Vincit Omnia

Right, let’s be straight about this – you’re either going to hate Pure Reason Revolution or love them. On the basis of their sophomore full length Amor Vincit Omnia, you may find yourself loving them in spite of yourself.

The thing is, they’re a ridiculous proposition on paper. Pure Reason Revolution are a post-Millennial mash-up of Heaven 17, The Beloved and early Depeche Mode with modern electro-rock and classic prog. Sampled loops and drum machines underpin harmonised choirs of digital dark angels while glassy blips, bloops, burbles and portamento-mangled synth-bass riffs fit to ram dancefloors coil and twist in the middle… but there’s an effortless (and shameless) pop nous informing it all. Carrying a copy of Amor Vincit Omnia across the border could see you falling foul of laws prohibiting the import of particularly tenacious earworms; it’s pseudo-industrial dancefloor pop for the £3-a-pilll generation, if you like.

Amor Vincit Omnia means “love conquers all” in Latin, and while a look at the global news should be sufficient to disabuse you of that notion at least temporarily, it seems to be true in Pure Reason Revolution‘s philosophy. A little true for my taste, in fact; while it fits well with the futurist electronic aesthetic, their continual harping on the most tired lyrical clichés of pop love songs is my biggest gripe with the album.

The rest of Amor Vincit Omnia, as I say, I found myself liking quite a bit. You’ve got your android Crosby Stills & Nash impersonators on the vocals, your thick but simple synthetic soundscapes, and your effortless mantra-like pop structures, but there’s a whole lot more in there as well. “Victorious Cupid” comes packed with beefy guitars way back in the mix and vocal melodies that, for some reason, remind me of Filter performing Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds (which, coming from me at least, is a sort of compliment); that and “Apogee/Requiem For the Lovers” represent the high-water mark of the guitar-driven side of Pure Reason Revolution‘s sound, leaving the strong synth tones to carry the weight most of the time – which they do surprisingly well, from the subtle analogue beeps of opener “Les Malheurs” to the glissando rave-hoover tones that close “The Gloaming”.

That’s due in no small part to the production – which is amazing, if a little too glossy at times. But that glossiness distracts neatly from Pure Reason Revolution‘s tired lyrical clichés; on your first few listens you’ll hardly notice what the songs are about, because you’ll be too caught up in the intricacy and detail, the little scattered, sliced, munged or mangled chunks of tone and voice and drums which bring the tracks to life. When they strip it right back to more traditional tones (pianos, strings, bit of synth-brass) for the obligatory pretty-cutesy song, all the magic is absent for me, making “Bloodness” the most apt song title of the lot.

Ultimately I’m of two minds about Amor Vincit Omnia; there’s no denying that it’s ear-candy with an addiction-inducing high sucrose content, but I can’t help but feel about Pure Reason Revolution the way I do about Pendulum: they make an awesome noise with the skills of master craftspersons, but they don’t really seem to know what to do with it. Distinctly unlike Pendulum, however, every listen makes their work more intriguing rather than less… and that’s an achievement that deserves respect. I suspect there’ll be tracks from Amor Vincit Omnia packing dancefloors in alternative clubs all over the place by the time summer arrives, so be prepared to get your love on.