Graeme
I had wanted to call this “Never Trust a Young God" but it was a bit of a long and clumsy title. Sentinel’s patience is running out. All we have to do is elect 25 good honest men, to form a council to run the planet.
This is how Atlantis has been run for millennia. In reflection of their belief that the number XXV is “sacred”
The power hungry human politicians cannot reach an agreement and time is running out.
Young God is full of anger and discord. It is great fun to play and we get a chance to let Colin loose on his double bass drum frenzy! This is turning into a great live track.
You don’t have to be the holder of a Boy Scout Observer badge to pick out the “all world now join hands as one” guitar riff from Atlantis.
Enjoy!
Paul
It sounds how it is for me, Imperialistic, dramatic, haunting and a whole lot more. I love the conclusion of XXV with this gargantuan arrangement. It challenges our fears, it begs disbelief.
Can this actually happen?
On many levels it is happening now, so who is to say that we are not due and deserve such a drastic clear out.
Our tiny Blue Orb deserves more than what we give her and perhaps we take one last look at one another and ask….
What can I do? How can I help?
And finally… I am sorry my friend…
Colin
Great vocal from Paul again. Very powerful and emotive with a lot of the pulse being deployed on the crash and China cymbals with a lot of triplet feel fills throughout the song.
Paul
There comes a point in the intro when Rons Keyboards swell and a beautiful vocal siren takes you by the hand and leads you to a place and a vista that none of us would ever want to behold, the absolute end of our existence.
A descending keyboard riff slowly guides you to the vocal and at this point I find it incredible that I must carry the narrative and ambience whilst so vocally exposed.
Graeme
The Sentinel has presented himself to the world, and for the young people of the planet he has immediately turned into a media sensation.
A huge rally is organised in the shadow of the pyramids outside Cairo The young people of the world travel from all over the globe to attend the rally and to hear the Alien Messiah speak.
The atmosphere is like an awesome global rock concert, mixed with the hysteria of a newfound religion, and the youthful hope for a new tomorrow.
I fantasise about playing a huge outdoor festival, kicking into this track, and seeing thousands of people bounce up and down with their are hands in the air, waiting in anticipation for Paul’s speech!
Okay okay I know I am sad!
Colin
We actually recorded this underwater; too soggy to record any drums, so we didn’t bother…
Graeme
What a stonking good riff! This gives us all a chance to put our heads down and ROCK!
A lovely orchestral middle section, and rousing guitar solo!
This song is the human races’ rallying call to fight for survival, as the Atlantean war machines appear from beneath the sea.
Graeme
I love this track, though I’m aware that some of my colleagues don’t feel quite so warmly about it.
I love the creeping feel of it, and really love the chorus riff. I also really enjoy Paul’s vocal delivery in this track.
This is very different from your normal Pallas song, and I find it very hooky, and difficult to get out of my mind once I have heard it.
Graeme
Let’s face it you want an album to start with a bang!
We set out to write an opener for XXV, that would give a new listener to Pallas’ music and idea of what the band is all about.
We also wanted to give longstanding Pallas fans a taste of what the album would be all about.
We started off trying to write an orchestral overture utilising familiar chords from the Sentinel album, so that the experienced listener would instantly feel himself being drawn back into the world we created on the Sentinel album.
Those of you who caught some of the live shows last year, where we were previewing some new material will recognise that the opening section was changed whilst we were in the studio. We felt whilst performing Falling Down live, that the opening sequence wasn’t quite “kick ass “enough.
I think the changes we made in the studio have achieved what we wanted, namely to get the hairs on the back of the listeners neck standing on end, with a truly exciting opening to the album.
Thereafter I think this song gives Paul a great introduction, followed by some first-class rocking Prog where every member of the band gets to show off a little.
Niall
Originally this track started life entitled “Piano anticipation” which was just a musical doodle I had been toying with for a while really but we thought it had potential and it is now one of my favorite tracks.
I get to go mad on the guitar at the end…which is nice.
Niall
The title “Blackwood” comes from a Family name that has been passed down through the generations on my Fathers side.
The track is unchanged from my original recording apart from the beautiful vocal of Melissa Allan who nailed it exactly the way I had written it.