Two years after the high-quality album, Coming up to Consciousness, full of artful, subtle musical frameworks, Pure Reason Revolution blast back with the altogether more explosive and impactful Terrifying Angels. Disappointed by the response to their more understated previous album, Jon Courtney decided to dive head first into more turbulent musical waters with torrent after torrent of heavy riffs and thunderous drumming. Apparently the concept of Terrifying Angels was inspired by a sermon he and his family heard at Easter in Berlin, now his home. Courtney has explained:
“The sermon pointed out that angels tended to be terrifying most of the time. They’re there to give some kind of judgement or message that scared the hell out of people. Traditionally, angels aren’t cute cherubs. Their general aura is often overwhelming and intimidating.”
The incendiary Spin like Fire immediately immerses the listener in titanic drumming by Ravi Kesavaram. Grunge-like heavy guitars join the dizzying percussive maelstrom, and then Pure Reason Revolution pour the honey of their trademark harmony vocals over the song to balance out the chaos. It is a remarkable introduction and we know straightaway we are delving into deeper, darker different territory.
However, these ‘Bright Ambassadors of Morning’ hark back to gentler, more pastoral fields with the mellotron backed and acoustic guitar led opening to the remarkable Black-Arrow Acrobats, based on a strange dream in which Courtney was being chased by Ninja-like acrobat figures… yes, really! After 2 minutes though we are met with another barrage of drums and crunching guitars, and sinister sounding vocals, which transform into their usual smoother harmonies. This extended piece then suddenly drops into a hypnotic, spacey Floydian passage with subtle percussion, gentle guitars and an undulating synth. Mariusz Duda, formerly of Riverside, adds his inimitable bass skills with his usual skill and touch. A chiming guitar takes us to a gentle echoing haven before we gradually rise to a more powerful finale with cascading drums and distorted guitars. The Black-Arrow Acrobats then suddenly collide with the abrupt end of this stunning, disturbing song – if this is one of Courtney’s dreams we can only suggest he refrains from eating cheese too close to bedtime in future!!
Haywire Heart and Rumination Ruin manifest Pure Reason Revolution at their most brutal and driven, but even here there are shafts of musical sunlight. A blizzard of interference welcomes in Haywire Heart as Ravi Kesavaram explodes on drums before dirty sounding guitars plough their way forward. Above this storm Courtney and the sweet voice of Annicke Shireen, also of Heilung, surf along assertively just about staying aloft long enough to not be overwhelmed. A dreamy interlude floats in briefly and then Pure Reason Revolution are careering madly to the conclusion with distorted guitars, walls of percussion… and incredible poise amidst the mayhem. Ravi Kesavaram stars yet again in Rumination Ruin as his drums batter down the door at the beginning before the tank like main theme rumbles in with psychedelic guitars strafing above it all. Coolly proceeding through this apocalyptic soundscape are the ever-sweet harmonies of Courtney and Shireen, along with founding member of Pure Reason Revolution, Greg Jong. Unexpectedly, amidst this musical mayhem a restrained oasis of calm emerges, almost in the distance, before the main crunching theme sweeps that al away. For some this relentless and sometimes discordant approach may be a little unsettling, but these songs are thrilling… and also exhausting – the best way to consume this album is to just dive in and hang on for the ride!
Next up is the extended title track which atmospherically builds with gentle hypnotic bass and soft percussion with a distinctly Gilmour-esque floating slide guitar – there is a clear sense of beautiful angelic figures coalescing before our eyes (and ears)… but do not forget, these are ‘Terrifying Angels’ and the menace builds with a sinister insistent synth beat… and then all hell breaks loose. A throbbing wall of guitars, bass, drums and keys fills the horizon, and then a weirdly serpentine guitar passage slithers across… and just when you think the song will implode into a Black Hole under it’s own immense weight we emerge blinking into the brightness of a gently rhythmic, melodic mid-section with almost whispered velvet vocals. However, even here something askew gives the sense that with this beauty comes terror as a strangely distorted and twisted guitar keens away in the background. A final vocal section returns us to a more stately section, leading us into a coda alternating between light and dark.
The penultimate track Below Radiance feels like a trippy intermission, laced with gentle piano drops (from Kenneth Fitzgerald who gets a co-writing credit), subtle guitar accents and spectral synth lines. In an album of crushing rhythms and powerful riffs this feels like a haven and palate cleanser before their final epic piece.
Jon Courtney recently shared in a piece for PROG magazines ‘Louder’ online outlet that the album ‘is about encountering forces that appear redemptive and discovering that transformation is never gentle. The album follows a narrator who repeatedly mistakes salvation for safety – only to learn that the forces that save us are often the same forces that undo us.’
As ever with Pure Reason Revolution these themes are not always immediately obvious, swathed in dense musical themes and poetic lyricism, but they emerge more clearly and most dramatically on the impressive epic album finale, Hold Your Wrath. One of their most ambitious pieces yet Hold Your Wrath embraces various musical themes with Ravi Kesavaram shining with talent, equally adept at subtle jazzy trippy rhythms in the first half and then driving the tank like power of the second half with equal aplomb. Annicke Shireen also has more room to express her soulful, dream-like voice in the opening section, and a bewitching, delicate short virtually a cappella section midway through. Courtney displays his musical flexibility with some delightfully airy jazzy guitar parts midway through – Pure Reason Revolution have never sounded like this before. Swinging smoothly between sweetness and loudness, and between soft and heavy, Hold Your Wrath exemplifies Pure Reason Revolution at their peak of diversity and creativity.
Undoubtedly imprinted with their trademark love of silken melodies and crunching rhythms, Pure Reason Revolution’s have stretched their boundaries in altogether darker and heavier directions. Terrifying Angels is a glorious synthesis of the beautiful and the sinister, the melodic and the rhythmic, in what should be regarded as one of the best albums of 2026.
TRACK LISTING
01. Spin Like Fires (3:32)
02. Black-Arrow Acrobats (8:38)
03. Haywire Heart (2:42)
04. Terrifying Angels (12:26)
05. Rumination Ruin (4:26)
06. Below Radiance (3:34)
07. Hold Your Wrath (14:46)
Total Time – 50:02
MUSICIANS
Jon Courtney – Vocals, Guitars, Bass, Synthesisers, Keys, Piano, Percussion, Programming
Annicke Shireen – Vocals
Ravi Kesavaram – Drums
Greg Jong – Vocals, Instruments, Programming, Additional Drums (4 & 5)
~ With:
Mariusz Duda – Bass Guitar (2)
Kristoffer Gildenlöw – Bass Guitar (1 & 5)
Augustine Rampolla – Bass Guitar (4)
Paul Damian Hogan – Keyboards (4)
Kenneth Fitzgerald – Piano (6)
Nate Smith – Additional Drums (2 & 7)
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Inside Out Music
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 25th September 2026
DISCOGRAPHY
– Cautionary Tales for the Brave (EP) (2005)
– The Dark Third (2006)
– Live at Nearfest 2007 (2008)
– Amor Vincit Omnia (2009)
– Hammer and Anvil (2010)
– Valour (EP) (2011)
– Eupnea (2020)
– Above Cirrus (2022)
– Coming Up to Consciousness (2024)
– Terrifying Angels (2026)
LINKS
Pure Reason Revolution – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp (Inside Out Music) | X | Instagram
