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Two big occasions occurred with the information I left you in the artist profile of Parhelia I wrote this past January. First, I’m no longer a jobless bum, and more seriously, Parhelia has released their third album. Shifting Sands (2009) was just released and, so far, is only available directly through the band’s website. Parhelia has also had the privilege of sharing the stage with Anathema and God is an Astronaut in the past few months. Their new album is certainly stronger than their first two. By now they’ve developed their own sound, but I can tell they’re still growing musically. Parhelia is still on their way up.

Like the first two albums, Shifting Sands is relatively short. It’s just over a half hour and only 6 tracks. I suppose it should really be called an EP, but it’s just a label. I still call EPs albums anyway. The longer tracks are towards the end and pick up just a little more energy giving the album a solid flow.

The first thing I noticed about Shifting Sands is that drums have gotten better. Andy does a better job with throwing in short fills and maintaining syncopation with other elements. In some sense I was hoping for more energetic drums, but I realized that’d actually do a disservice to the band. More energy doesn’t mean better, and I like this band band because it’s relaxing. Every element of the band fits this theme and does it well. It definitely makes sense that they’ve played along side bands like God is an Astronaut. So if that’s the sort of music you’re looking for, look to Shifting Sands.