The Paradox Twin - A Romance Of Many Dimensions- Progressive Voyages Review

The highly arresting cover for this fine album.

This release was an unexpected one from the southern ptoggers, It is a 9 track suite of tracks that talk about Isolation, Lonleliness and the blurring of lines between the Real and the Digital World, the protagonist of the album is a person who finds his identity whilst online, His only friend is a Crow in the game who never speaks but is always there in times of need, The protagonist sees himself as a robot in a vast Digital landscape, this album tells of his adventures in that arena.

The band is comprised of Danny Sorrell Vocals, Guitar and Keyboards, Graham Brown- Drums and Sarah Bayley Vocals, John Mitchell provides the Bass Guitar John also plays a Guitar Solo on Nested Scratch.

The album commences with a gentle short track called Linter, this is a mainly Keyboard led track witha suitably semi-operatic vocal from Sarah which evokes a sense of isolation and bleakness, After this we quickly move to Operator which is voiced by Danny, Here we first hear the solid drums of Graham Brown as he provides a strong pattern to accompany Danny, The second verse of the track has a much harsher metallic sound to it, this is quite unexpected, Yet somehow it still works, Especially when Sarah sings her part

Next track is Null The System which starts with a keyboard sequence, Sarah's atmospheric vocal adorns this track again this adapts a harder sound after a strong bass line in the introduction to the track, Again Sarah's vocal are warm and wonderful after she sings I'm powering down my eyes it gets decidedly more muscular in sound. I really do like how this all sounds, it has a great sound everything is crisp and clear withb good separation and space in the mix.

Next we havev My Main Function, which Is the albums longest track at just over 11 minutes duration, This begins with more keyboard sequences bsss and drums, there is a fine refrain in this song which is performed on acoustic guitar by Danny, the song gains urgency thereafter as Danny sings of his life and struggles. Wanting his online presence to be the real him as opposed to the real him weighed down by his insecurities and fragile mental health, there is a great guitar solo atvthe 5:06 point and strong keyboards afterwards all this is accompanied by strong bass (John) and Graham’ pounding drums a very strong track indeed and it uses its extended duration very effectively indeed.

UI is next this again has a harder edge to it, here the vocals fade in and out the song is very ambient with great sound textures in the mix, i do like this track I like how it sounds here..

If Else is next and this is hinged on a strong backbeat and Danny's vocal, there is a great piano line woven through the track and more ambient keyboard sounds

Inheritance follows This is a mainly acoustic guitar and atmospheric keyboard textures initially at keast although Bass and Drums feature later on, vocals are shared here between Danny and Sarah to fine effect.

Pixel Shader is the penultimate track here and it it an excellent track which again has a harder sound to it although it still has atmospheric sound present zs well, I like how thevriff repeats and the climatic sound interupt things but not in a bad way. As it gives the track space that it uses well, This is possibly my favourite track of the album, Certainly one that makes a positive impression as you listen to it,

The final song of thecalbum is Nested Scratch, this begins delicately with Acoustic guitar strumming and Sarah's vocals with 8nteract with Danny's vocals well, this song has a lot happening throughout and it is very effective indeed as is the strong bass from John and Graham's powerful Drums which yield to a dine guitar solo from John that leads the track to a very strong conclusion his solo here is suitably epic in both scope and tone and thecalbum is complete.

I will admit I didn't really understand what it was trying to convey but that is more my fault rather than the albums I'm sure I really enjoyed it especially how it embraces electronica and it symphonic sound and string keyboards.

Hopefully it will all click when I see them At Wokingham Festival soon

Meanwhile there is much to appreciate here in this though provoking release.

Info here:A Romance of Many Dimensions | The Paradox Twin https://share.google/aQyh4bwRGXSJX9hSW

Author John Wenlock-Smith Monday 27th July 2026.