POOR GENETIC MATERIAL – Paradise Out Of Time

Before you read this review, be warned: This is not a Metal album. The score applies for the band’s specific musical style and is by no means an indication for a purchase if you are expecting Metal. It is highly recommended to listen to a track or two before making up your mind if this album could be an addition to your collection, or to see if it makes you scream for a Motörhead album after a minute!

If you are still interested, let Paradise Out Of Time expand your musical horizon. Poor Genetic Material are a German band that released five albums before and found their home on a small underground Prog label from which Metal Express Radio had two other reviews before: Bonebag and Alias Eye. The overall quality of releases is remarkable, but it is generally only marginally MER.COM stuff. Poor Genetic Material are the least suitable for normal Metal fans, but if you like styles like Progressive Rock and Art Rock, this may be a gem worth discovering. The degree of heaviness lies somewhere between Dire Straits’ Brothers In Arms or Love Over Gold, Genesis’ self-titled 1983 album or Abacab, Marillion’s This Strange Engine or Marbles (both with Steve Hogarth on vocals), and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon. At the same time, if you do not despise all the bands and albums just listed, this is definitely a release for you to check out.

The band began as a pure Instrumental project, but developed into a full band when Phil Griffith, whose main band is Alias Eye, took the post at the microphone. Elaborately long tracks, atmospheric musical landscapes, emotional pieces of art -– that would be a fitting description of Poor Genetic Material’s style until Paradise Out Of Time. With the new album, a slight change in style is apparent: There are none of the said elaborately long tracks on the album. Fortunately, the rest of the trademarks do remain almost untouched with only slight alterations. The songwriting on this new release sounds more mature and to the point than before, which will probably not go down too well with their Art Rock fandom, but makes this release the Rockiest so far, but also one that flirts with mainstream Pop. You need a label for this? Put Art Pop Rock on it!

The album’s nine tracks all lay an emphasis on strong melody, some with considerably less melancholy than before. The opening track “New Phase” is even a nice, catchy Pop tune, before a more Rocky “The Key” already marks the song with the most dominant guitar on the album. Unusual for PGM, but in their own way no less moving than their earlier works. An addition to the line-up is Oliver Berger who plays violin on several songs, among those the first ballad “Paradise.” The following five songs all reveal a character of their own without leaving the original and emotionally immensely satisfying style, be it with Rock songs like “Citizen Cyclops” or “Holy Ground” or ballads like “Starlight Bound” or the most Poor Genetic Material typical composition, “Out Of Time.”

Then, at the very end, the band finishes the album with the most beautiful track of all: “My Other Life” is easily the highlight of this intense, soulful release, which can convince musically and, of course, through Phil Griffith’s extraordinary voice which – regardless if Paradise Out Of Time is up one’s musical alley or not – should be enjoyed by every music lover.

Although with every review it is recommended to check out the band on their Myspace site, it is even more so with this album since Poor Genetic Material’s musical journey never even takes them close to the suburbs of Metal city. And still, they deserve nothing less than a very good score even on a Metal page, as all can acknowledge fine musicianship and good songwriting, right?