Ever since I started working for Metal Temple, I've received a lot of Rock and Metal albums to review in various categories i.e. Doom Metal, Stoner Metal, Power Metal, Hard Rock and so on but this is the first one I've been sent that falls into the Progressive Rock category. The album in question is "Signals" by Glaswegian band PREACHER and their debut album is more of a concept album as it centers itself around a story of extra-terrestrials coming to visit our planet.

It's not uncommon for bands to tell a story with their music but when you are a Progressive Rock band, it's sort of what you do as even the classic Prog Rock bands like PINK FLOYD and YES attached stories to their albums. I've listened to little bits of those classic Prog Rock bands here and there and it seems that PREACHER have taken inspiration from those classic Prog Rock bands to help create the concept for their debut CD "Signals".

One of the biggest dangers that Progressive Rock bands face is that often they will create music that is either too boring or too lengthy or both. Some of the songs on this album do seem very slow paced but there is enjoyment in the music that does not make it boring as yes Progressive Rock songs can be quite slow paced and often boring but here with PREACHER's debut album, there is a strong feel to the music that does not make it boring by any means as it is enjoyable.

One thing this album scores points for is the amount of power and passion put into the songwriting and the music and that's what I always look for in good music as it has to have the right amount of power and a good level of passionate songwriting without making it sound too messy or too horrible. There are a lot of bands who can do that but there are those that cannot and fortunately PREACHER are one of those bands that can do that.

For a debut album from a new Progressive Rock band, "Signals" is very good as the idea of centering your music around a concept or a story is a big risk to take. Why? Well often they can fall into traps of making a poor album depending on the production or the concept/story they have chosen to use. Thankfully though, PREACHER are not in that trap as with "Signals", the more you listen to it, you can  picture a few scenes from various movies in your head that are all about aliens visiting our planet and it makes you think about just how well PREACHER's songs would work in a movie like that.

It's verdict time. As someone who has never been a big fan of the Progressive Rock genre, I assumed that I was going to hate this album but I was proved wrong. The more you listen to it, the more it grows on you and you begin to appreciate the power and the passion that went into the songwriting. This really is an album that will grow on you even if Progressive Rock is not your thing but if you do love the genre then "Signals" by PREACHER will make a great addition to your collection as you will easily be able to identify remnants and styles used by the classic Progressive Rock bands such as PINK FLOYD and YES to name a few.