Lifeforce Records (2012)

A five piece progressive metal act from Germany, Pigeon Toe straddle the lines of alternative, melodic singing, hypnotic tribal-like rhythms and guitar play that is distinctive and exciting on this debut album “The First Perception”. Bands like Faith No More, Opeth, and Fair To Midland come to mind as tracks like “The Man With The Cat”, the psychedelic picking “The Flashback” or the calm, serene guitar dynamics at heart with the title cut transport the mind and body to another outer world dimension.

Employing three guitarists ensures a versatile access to riffs and other extraneous nuances- coming to play early and often with the squeals, stops and whirs within highlight song “The Chase” where drummer Norman Lonhard gets to play the wild cat or moderate tempo maker as the electricity keeps you on the edge of your seat. Vocally bassist Ben and guitarists Marsn and Hanson handle the harmonies with grace and decorum, never going beyond their capabilities and yet forming three part comfort in an alternative rock meets The Eagles manner for songs like “Sneak” or the longer 9:37 epic “A Broken Man”.

Spending the majority of 2009 and 2010 developing this material, those of you into the previous work of Marsn, Hanson and Norman with the melodic death metal band Fear My Thoughts will be in for a pleasant shock with Pigeon Toe. I’m aware of the fact that progressive as a genre means many things to any number of different people if you took an opinion poll. When it comes to “The First Perception”, Pigeon Toe does not stick to conventional arrangements, normal time signatures, or even consistent distortion techniques. This material leaves Pigeon Toe open to wide live interpretation- and I believe this could be another Lifeforce sleeper on year end charts.

www.pigeontoe.de
www.lifeforcerecords.com

Rating: 5.5 / 6

Composed by Matt Coe