Pericardium Salutary
by Ken Mac Vicar
Staff Writer
The pericardium is a thin double-layered sac which encloses the heart. Fluid is contained within the layers and lubricates the constantly rubbing surfaces. Much like their namesake, the band Pericardium is constantly rubbing and mixing different surfaces of the rock genre in attempt to create their own distinct sound. Based out of San Francisco, Pericardium was formed in February of ’06 with the intent of fusing everything from jazz to hip hop to metal. The quartet consists of Mike Black on guitar, Sean Sullivan on vocals, David Marshall on bass and Luis Munoz on drums
The band’s second offering, the mini album Salutary sees the band attempting to define its sound while retaining the disparate elements they have been trying to fuse The result: Salutary is an album of politically fueled progressive alternative rock that has touches of jazz, psychedelia and metal. It mixes such elements as virtuosic lead guitar, spacey atmospheric instrumental work, and a solid groove throughout the album.
Overall, it’s an ambitious work that doesn’t always hit the mark, but certainly contains moments of brilliance, which perhaps can be refined consistently with some maturity and experience. While comparisons to another San Fran based outfit Green Day and their modern masterpiece, 21st Century Breakdown, would be unfair given that band’s maturation to stardom, it would not be unfair to say that Salutary contains some fine moments that would fit right at home on 21st Century Breakdown. In particular the lyrical content of Salutary is both challenging and at times politically charged and while there are musical highlights, the band needs to further define who they actually are before such ambitions can realized.
Salutary opens with the title track “Salutary,” a Pink Floyd like dreamy landscape of acoustic guitars and piano with a bluesy guitar riff. That dreamy like atmosphere is quickly slashed on “A Hymn for Doves to the Rhythm of Hawks,” perhaps the most appropriately titled song you have heard. The track kicks in with a metallic guitar line over a driving rhythm section before settling into a groove filled heavy riff punctuated by some excellent soloing. The high end almost dreamy vocals provide the song with its light and dark counterpoints, belying the cynical nature of the lyrics.
That hard driving sound gives way to a more laid back approach on “21st Century” where the band sounds more like a jazz trio than a rock band. It’s a compliment to the band’s excellent rhythm section that they are able to pull this off with out a hitch. However, the great guitar work that made the previous tracks so good is missed. That lighter sound is kicked up just a bit on “Unattainable” which starts out with a Maroon Five-ish guitar riff that would feel right at home on any Adult Contemporary radio station. The song manages to rise above such light contemporaries through the post chorus bridge, featuring some excellent guitar work and the consistent rhythm section of the M & M boys, Marshall and Munoz.
“Ecliptic Corridor” is a mid tempo instrumental track that moves the band back into harder territory, opening with more Floyd inspired riffing that’s punctuated by an excellent bass line. The drum work is simple and effective, always complimenting the sound while never dominating it. The song breaks stride at about the four minute mark speeding up the tempo and adding some keyboards to create a psychedelic effect. The track blends seamlessly into the opening of “Ataraxia’s End” another mellow track that provides a pleasant kick in the ass. The guitars take center stage after the opening verses to help create a great modern rock sound. The song slows again for the additional verses before firing up a hard hitting solo that ends the song on a high note. Sullivan’s vocals finally take center stage on “The Mist of May” as he stretches his range to deliver some much needed emotion. The song is highlighted by some excellent guitar work that plays well off the intensity of the vocals before closing in an almost spoken word fashion.
The album closes with “Neverending” one of the more mainstream accessible tracks on the album with its simple rhythm and keyboard work. Sullivan’s vocal stylings work best with this lyrical and musical approach and closes out the album in fine if quiet fashion
Bottom Line: A narrower focus could help them gain a broader appeal.
Online: www.pericardiumband.com
Track Listing:
1) Salutary
2) A Hymn for Doves to the Rhythm of Hawks
3) 21st Century
4) Unattainable
5) Ecliptic Corridor
6) Ataraxia’s End
7) The Mist of May
8) Neverending
HRH Rating: 6/10