UMUR "The Pylon of Insanity" is the debut full-length studio album by Dutch power metal act Harrow. The album was released through Noise Records in 1994. Harrow formed as far back as 1982 and released the "Fearful Awakening" demo in 1991 and the "The Rising Phoenix" EP in 1993.

With the rather drastic change in sound between the material on "The Rising Phoenix (1993)" and the material on "The Pylon of Insanity", my guess is that the former was probably written over several years. Maybe some of the material was even written in the 80s but wasn´t released until 1993, and by that time Harrow already played a different style, but felt the old material was too good to not release (and they were right about that). Let´s just establish that the melodic US power influenced heavy metal, which predominantly featured an uplifting spirit, which was the dominant sound on the EP is not how the material sounds on "The Pylon of Insanity". Instead Harrow now play a darker and more heavy semi-progressive/US power metal style with the occasional raw nod towards thrash metal. Surprisingly there have been zero lineup changes as the two releases could easily have been recorded by two completely different acts.

Harrow are well playing and their new darker and more aggressive style of music suits them pretty well, although they also excelled in the more melodic US power/heavy metal style on "The Rising Phoenix (1993)" EP, and "The Pylon of Insanity" does still feature some sections which remind me of the style on the predecessor (an example is the chorus on "Road to Nowhere"). The riffs are mostly heavy and sharp though and the rhythms equally so. Lead vocalist Frank van Gerwen can still hit the high notes when needed, but he predominantly sings a little more raw here. "The Pylon of Insanity" features a heavy and powerful sounding production job, and upon conclusion it´s a quality debut album by Harrow. I´m a little surprised about the more heavy and dark direction that Harrow have opted to take on this album, but mostly I´m pleasantly surprised. A 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved.