A British band with a French album title? Sacre Bleu! This will have the gammon spitting in their Carling as they paw over their copy of the Daily Bastard. Actually, there is no chance that the Brexiter Gammon will get anywhere near Folie à Trois because it’s way too clever and complex for them.
Three friends who decided to form a band back in 2014. Let’s meet Danny Beardsley (guitars), Dave Wright (drums) and Ben Edis (bass), The Parallax Method, who have brought their debut album out of the rehearsal room after several years of doing what they said they wouldn’t. Play live. The trio have some strong influences within their arsenal of songs, ranging from classic rock but more towards the modern progressive metal sound of Periphery, Tesseract and Karnivool. In fact, The Parallax Method have been out on the road supporting Tesseract, Twelve Foot Ninja, Dorje and Toska amongst others. But I’m also reminded, that this a band who have played Bloodstock twice, including a visit to the Sophie Stage in 2019.
Folie à Trois or ‘The madness of the three’ allows the band to spread their expansive instrumental style over ten intriguingly titled songs. There is plenty to explore with the cheeky flips and fills of opener “We’ve Learned Nothing” segueing neatly into “The Pope’s Personal Saxophonist”. Two songs that showcase everything that is good about the band. Jazz bursts combine with intuitive freeform playing, as the band get fully into the zone. Crafted and created, this is an album that allows you to kick off your shoes after a hard day and just let it sweep over you with a glass of something in your hand.
The zany song titles are matched by the expansive approach that The Parallax Method adopt. “Batman Broods Over Gotham” is as dark as you might expect, whilst “Cheeky Charlie’s Porky Pokers” has ample bounce and humour to it.
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No song sounds the same, which is probably unsurprising to those with an ear for the progressive, but the twists and turns that they deliver make it an album that you can return to time and again. Expect the unexpected and arrive at the 0:24 Country burst of “D-Ron’s Country Assault”, a humorous little blast that is over before it begins. It’s followed by the riff heavy crunch of “Under the Stinging Tree of Death”. This is one of the most impressive workouts on the album, with the bass lines doing much more than laying down the beat; they are almost Geddy Lee like in their individuality and vibrancy.
Having gone on hiatus after 2017’s second EP The Squid, The Parallax Method has taken the necessary time to regroup and refocus. Mixing longer six-minute plus tracks with shorter, snappier tracks, there’s surprisingly only one epic workout that strays into more expected prog length. Final song “Lava Palaver” comes complete with a Latino vibe, almost the soundtrack to a fine wine bar in the evening sun before upping the time changes and tempo to remind you that underneath there lurks a band with metal tendencies.
This won’t appeal to all. But if you are partial to a clever musical workout that showcases high levels of quality musicianship, then Folie à Trois will certainly be of interest.
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Folie à Trois is out on July 14th
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The Parallax Method: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | spotify | bandcamp | youtube
