Like you say, The Dark Third is a TRIP! As an album experience from beginning to end, I would say it's my favorite record of all time, or at least next to Tool's Lateralus. The moment they transition to Goshen's Remains after that dreamy instrumental opening track (Aeropause) and I heard Chloe Alper's soothing, slightly bluesy vocals mixed in a ghost-like dreamspace sound, I knew I was in for something incredible and epic. Being quite young when I first heard this, this might've been my first exposure to music as a long-form experience, similar to a movie, or at least my first interest in exploring music like that. Then you have the PERFECT transition from Goshen's Remains into Apprentice of the Universe, where the male vocals of Jon Courtney and co. first take the lead; the tempo is increased and you get this incredible combination of riffs and vocal harmonies. And then, as if that wasn't freaking enough, you get another perfect transition into The Bright Ambassadors of Morning: Their most iconic, unique and absolutely incredible song. Going into what makes this song amazing is probably not even necessary. It's not even my personal favorite, but there's something to be said about this track being somewhat transcendental. It's arguably the band's greatest spiritual moment, as if the ghost that has possessed some of the greatest musical geniuses of all time took hold of them as they made this song (while they were students, I might add), and they've been building on that inspiration ever since, though never quite achieving that level of brilliance. You can't fault them for that: I don't think you can replicate the circumstances of a bunch of students creating a 12-minute progressive masterpiece for a university project, launching them into a major label. Again, not knowing the details personally, the only way for a record label like Sony to want to take on a bunch of students because of a 12-minute song is not because of anything other than artistic brilliance of a high order. After that massive peak, the band deliberately descends the slope (having no other option). You can tell this just by the fact that the tracks after Ambassadors are interchangeable - either Nimos & Tambos or The Exact Colour depending on the album version you're listening to. Personally, I love Nimos & Tambos for being catchy and upbeat. The Exact Colour is too downbeat, which I feel is unnecessary because there was already a lot of melancholy in the previous 3-4 tracks, and the next track (Voices in Winter) is similarly subdued for the first part. I appreciate that instead of trying to build upon the songs that came before (which would probably be futile and blow up in their faces), PRR takes the sound they established in the first few tracks and plays around with it to different effect. Voices in Winter / In the Realms of the Divine is a bit of a rollercoaster, slightly heavier than the previous ones after a slow build-up. Bullits Dominæ is a beautiful, compact song that could've easily worked as the album's lead single. Then we have songs like The Twyncyn and The Intention Craft (both interchangeable, again), where I may prefer the more chorus-oriented Intention Craft (with its terrific build-up, Arrival) over the relatively dark and heavy Twyncyn, but the latter arguably brings something more fresh. He Tried to Show Them Magic! / Ambassadors Return is a very good epilogue to the album, cementing Bright Ambassadors as the centerpiece of the experience (as if that wasn't obvious, but it's nice to see a confident acknowledgement within the album itself). Personally, after this track is where I usually stop listening simply because the pacing of Disc 1 by itself (excluding Asleep Under Eiderdown, the hidden track) is absolutely perfect. However, I appreciate the fact that there are more tracks because while PRR continued to dazzle after this, they never quite recaptured that exact same sound they had during this period. Especially the vocals, which got a lot sharper for both Jon and Chloe starting with the next album. Not better or worse, just different, which thankfully means nothing will ever replace The Dark Third's sound. Disc 2 is perhaps better when the songs are experienced individually, as I don't think it works as well as an extension of the album experience. In Aurelia is decent, but certainly one of their more boring songs IMO. Borgens Vor is an original song (never featured on Cautionary Tales or either regional version of the original release) which is note-worthy for being able to include a beautiful and dreamy slow build-up into an exciting classic PRR climax within just 4 minutes. I love that you consider the final track on Disc 2, Golden Clothes, to be the best song on The Dark Third. There have been periods where I consider it my favorite on the album as well. The vocal harmonies are on another level! Post-hiatus I would personally say it's become a bit more challenging to say The Dark Third is PRR's best album, even though that was such an obvious statement 5 years ago. I guess it just says something about how special this band is. Still, as I alluded to, nothing will ever match The Dark Third's uniqueness both in terms of music and PRR's catalogue. I've never heard a stronger debut album.
Like you say, The Dark Third is a TRIP! As an album experience from beginning to end, I would say it's my favorite record of all time, or at least next to Tool's Lateralus. The moment they transition to Goshen's Remains after that dreamy instrumental opening track (Aeropause) and I heard Chloe Alper's soothing, slightly bluesy vocals mixed in a ghost-like dreamspace sound, I knew I was in for something incredible and epic. Being quite young when I first heard this, this might've been my first exposure to music as a long-form experience, similar to a movie, or at least my first interest in exploring music like that.
Then you have the PERFECT transition from Goshen's Remains into Apprentice of the Universe, where the male vocals of Jon Courtney and co. first take the lead; the tempo is increased and you get this incredible combination of riffs and vocal harmonies. And then, as if that wasn't freaking enough, you get another perfect transition into The Bright Ambassadors of Morning: Their most iconic, unique and absolutely incredible song. Going into what makes this song amazing is probably not even necessary. It's not even my personal favorite, but there's something to be said about this track being somewhat transcendental.
It's arguably the band's greatest spiritual moment, as if the ghost that has possessed some of the greatest musical geniuses of all time took hold of them as they made this song (while they were students, I might add), and they've been building on that inspiration ever since, though never quite achieving that level of brilliance. You can't fault them for that: I don't think you can replicate the circumstances of a bunch of students creating a 12-minute progressive masterpiece for a university project, launching them into a major label. Again, not knowing the details personally, the only way for a record label like Sony to want to take on a bunch of students because of a 12-minute song is not because of anything other than artistic brilliance of a high order.
After that massive peak, the band deliberately descends the slope (having no other option). You can tell this just by the fact that the tracks after Ambassadors are interchangeable - either Nimos & Tambos or The Exact Colour depending on the album version you're listening to. Personally, I love Nimos & Tambos for being catchy and upbeat. The Exact Colour is too downbeat, which I feel is unnecessary because there was already a lot of melancholy in the previous 3-4 tracks, and the next track (Voices in Winter) is similarly subdued for the first part.
I appreciate that instead of trying to build upon the songs that came before (which would probably be futile and blow up in their faces), PRR takes the sound they established in the first few tracks and plays around with it to different effect. Voices in Winter / In the Realms of the Divine is a bit of a rollercoaster, slightly heavier than the previous ones after a slow build-up. Bullits Dominæ is a beautiful, compact song that could've easily worked as the album's lead single. Then we have songs like The Twyncyn and The Intention Craft (both interchangeable, again), where I may prefer the more chorus-oriented Intention Craft (with its terrific build-up, Arrival) over the relatively dark and heavy Twyncyn, but the latter arguably brings something more fresh.
He Tried to Show Them Magic! / Ambassadors Return is a very good epilogue to the album, cementing Bright Ambassadors as the centerpiece of the experience (as if that wasn't obvious, but it's nice to see a confident acknowledgement within the album itself). Personally, after this track is where I usually stop listening simply because the pacing of Disc 1 by itself (excluding Asleep Under Eiderdown, the hidden track) is absolutely perfect. However, I appreciate the fact that there are more tracks because while PRR continued to dazzle after this, they never quite recaptured that exact same sound they had during this period. Especially the vocals, which got a lot sharper for both Jon and Chloe starting with the next album. Not better or worse, just different, which thankfully means nothing will ever replace The Dark Third's sound.
Disc 2 is perhaps better when the songs are experienced individually, as I don't think it works as well as an extension of the album experience. In Aurelia is decent, but certainly one of their more boring songs IMO. Borgens Vor is an original song (never featured on Cautionary Tales or either regional version of the original release) which is note-worthy for being able to include a beautiful and dreamy slow build-up into an exciting classic PRR climax within just 4 minutes. I love that you consider the final track on Disc 2, Golden Clothes, to be the best song on The Dark Third. There have been periods where I consider it my favorite on the album as well. The vocal harmonies are on another level!
Post-hiatus I would personally say it's become a bit more challenging to say The Dark Third is PRR's best album, even though that was such an obvious statement 5 years ago. I guess it just says something about how special this band is. Still, as I alluded to, nothing will ever match The Dark Third's uniqueness both in terms of music and PRR's catalogue. I've never heard a stronger debut album.