Rating: 7.7

Country: USA

Release Date: 2001/2005

Track list:
1. Amplified
2. Magic Potion
3. Judas Wheel
4. Pale Divine
5. Gods, Monsters & Men
6. Dream Flower
7. Star Child
8. Devil’s Mark
9. 20 Buck Spin
10. Dark Knight
11. Amplified [Live]
12. Pale Divine [Live]

Band Website: Pale Divine

Pale Divine - Thunder Perfect Mind (Reissue)

Greg Diener- Guitars/Vocals
Darin McCloskey- Drums
Jim Corl- Bass

Chances are, if you count Hellride Music's forums as one of your regular internet haunts, you already know all about Pale Divine, undoubtedly one of the hottest commodities in today's doom community. If you have been keeping your fingers on doom metal's throbbing pulse, you will have caught wind of last year's OUTSTANDING sophomore effort 'Eternity Revealed', which I expect left you ravenous for MORE stampeding classic Maryland-flavored DOOMMM of the Pale Divine variety. Of course, this celebrated power trio's ascent to doom celebrity was initially precipitated by their debut on Game Two Records, which was floundering in OOP obscurity until the good folks at Austrian institution PsycheDOOMelic decided to revive it for a second go-around.

Let it be known, then, that this record is vastly different from the impeccable slab of dense, spectacularly-written excellence that would follow, in that it reflects a much groovier, more melodically inclined, and dare I say it, more frivolous dimension to Pale Divine's craft. I recently read an interview with Darin that expressed great dismay with critical opinions regarding this record (critical opinions that, it has to be said, were identical to the ones I just expressed), so I have to seek Pale Divine's forgiveness here, but the fare offered here is a far cry from the dark, brooding, nefarious mysticism of 'Eternity Revealed', instead showcasing their affinity towards more fluid, languid sounds with lengthy, wah-soaked leads, bonerattling riffage derived from vintage Penance (great parallels between this and the 'Alpha & Omega'/'SpiritualNatural' period) and latter day Pentagram ('Be Forewarned', 'Review Your Choices'). Additionally, there is a dreamy, blissful ethereality here that bears a parallel to Wino's work with Spirit Caravan and Victor Griffin's Place Of Skulls, certainly two favorable comparisons by any standards.

That being said, I can't help but feel like the songwriting here isn't quite as cohesive or focused as 'Eternity Revealed', and the bloated song lengths are host to extended, solo-laden jams that certainly attest to Pale Divine's astonishing chemistry as a three-piece, but can render the record a bit of an impenetrable listen if you're planning on listening to it actively throughout its duration. Still, the incredibly liquid, fluent and elegant six string work by Greg Diener here begs superlatives, as does the immaculate guitar sound/production that accompanies and accentuates the wah and delay drenched display that assumes center stage on the instrumental displays. Also of note here are the pronounced trad metal and ‘70s rock leanings that bubble to the surface every now and then- “Magic Potion” opens with a section that is positively Priest-y before settling into a Southern boogie-shuffle, only to refrain that great opening ditty after each verse, while “Amplified”, for the most part, exudes an early Sabbath looseness and stampeding vigour, while its drawn out, guitar-oriented instrumental passages summon forth a Bang by way of Jericho and Dust American stomp-rock sensibility that really betrays the fact that these boys grew up listening to the FOREFATHERS of riff-driven rock n'roll, as opposed to being weaned on a diet of Vitus, Trouble and Candlemass exclusively, the parched teats that all too many nu-doom cubs have suckled on for far too long.

Thankfully, the ponderous, plodding, foreboding dirge of 'Eternity Revealed' asserts itself on a number of select moments here- “The Judas Wheel” is propelled entirely by a cataclysmic, nightmarish, dystopian riff that gushes through your speakers and drowns you in torrents of acrid, putrescent sewage. “Gods, Monsters & Men”, meanwhile, approximates the breezy, driving biker-prog-doom of early Obsessed via a pulsating, seething instrumental, “Star Child” might as well have been on Pentagram's 'Day Of Reckoning' next to “Burning Saviour” with its sparse, eerie atmospherics in the verse passages and surging, monolithic hook section. Of further interest, of course, are the Liebling-assisted numbers, a spirited cover of ‘70s standard “20 Buck Spin” and a somewhat unimaginative Liebling composition, “Dark Knight”, which is as bereft of ideas as 'Review Your Choices', a record that remains Pentagram's weakest. A decent riff, to be sure, but Liebling's off-time delivery and the generally bland, sagging arrangement of the track means that not even a spectacularly tasteful Griffin-ish solo can save it from being, sadly, one of doom deity Liebling's lesser works. On a more positive note, the live tracks BRISTLE with spontaneity, intensity and energy, the band proving themselves as formidable of a live force as a studio troupe. For whatever reason, I favor the even grittier vocal approach here, as opposed to the Wino-meets-Neil-Fallon vocalizations on the studio record, and the infectious vitality of the live recording makes the live version of 11 minute “Amplified” much more bearable than the studio cut, which, for all its charming jams and electricity, is somewhat arduous to get through, despite the band's well-intentioned efforts to resurrect the jam-trio ethic of Budgie, Bang and Blue Cheer. The jazzy, almost Necromandus wah section sounds even cooler here than on the studio cut, too!

As enjoyable as this disc is, though, I have to say that it simply doesn't hit the spot quite as satisfyingly as 'Eternity Revealed' does. As is, 'Thunder Perfect Mind' remains an excellent, well-informed, well-executed TRADITIONAL doom record with definite inclinations towards heavy metal's pioneering spirits, but the songwriting simply suffers from too much extraneous flab. Now, I am as much an advocate of meandering instrumentation as the next man, after all, I am a HUGE fan of the likes of Krokodil, Amon Düül II, Jefferson Airplane, T2, Steamhammer, blah blah blah, but on a riff-oriented, power rock record, the boundaries between jam and fluff must be more stringently defined. The band allow the conciseness and focus of the song elude their grasp a few times here, allowing a riff to drone on for too long, allowing a jam to carry on a tad more than it should, etc. Clearly, these were all issues they would reform and address with their following masterpiece, so it's not a major gripe. As it stands, this is a very good record and required listening if you want to understand the basis upon which the Pale Divine sound has been built. A nice reissue.

December 30th, 2005