They say:
A fixture of the Finnish rock underground, Pharaoh Overlord have long made music of great interest and depth that warrants being taken seriously, while presenting it to the world in a way that risks discouraging just that (for some, at least). The lineup of Pharaoh Overlord has rarely been fixed since they began about two decades ago, but it’s tied pretty closely to that of Circle, who by virtue of existing first – and having a larger (indeed vast) discography – are generally considered the ‘main’ band to Pharaoh Overlord’s ‘side project’. Not how they’d prefer to see it, I’d wager.
Both groups have run the gamut of styles from Krautrock to heavy metal, jazz to prog, crisscrossing in an often camp and injokey way. And while sometimes using reference points from the recognised musical mainstream, they have rarely – if ever – sounded like it. This latest Pharaoh Overlord album probably comes closer to doing that than any other. Its five songs are mostly (perhaps entirely) guitar-free – sequenced rhythms and gleaming keyboard melodies cribbing from cosmic disco, Italo, synthpop and the more proto-techno sorts of the 1970s German set, then topped off by extreme metal vocals which will likely prove divisive even to those familiar with the source...
Read the rest here: The Quietus
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