Pallas are one of the founding bands of British neo-prog — a powerful, theatrical Scottish group who, alongside Marillion and IQ, led the early-1980s progressive revival. Formed in Aberdeen back in 1974, they spent years honing a harder, more muscular take on prog before their landmark debut “The Sentinel” (1984), a sci-fi concept album that became a genre cornerstone. Across decades and several singers, they have remained one of neo-prog’s heaviest and most ambitious bands.

The short version

Pallas are a Scottish neo-prog band formed in Aberdeen in 1974, originally as Rainbow. After years on the club circuit they broke through with the EMI-released concept album “The Sentinel” (1984), produced by Yes engineer Eddy Offord. A long hibernation followed their second album, before a celebrated late-1990s comeback. Across the eight albums gathered here, from “The Sentinel” to 2023’s “The Messenger,” they have delivered powerful, sci-fi-tinged neo-prog built on big keyboards and soaring guitar. Few bands of the scene hit as hard.

Vanguard of the revival

Pallas formed in Aberdeen in 1974 as Rainbow, changing their name once Ritchie Blackmore claimed it, and spent the late 1970s playing full-blooded progressive rock at a time when it was deeply unfashionable. As the early-1980s neo-prog revival took hold, a connection with Marillion — forged when bassist Graeme Murray answered an advert placed by their singer Fish — helped both bands break new territory. A self-released live album, relentless gigging and a slot at the 1983 Reading Festival made Pallas a hot property, and EMI duly came calling.

Powerful, sci-fi prog

Pallas play neo-prog at its most powerful and dramatic. Where many of their peers leaned on delicacy, Pallas combine Ronnie Brown’s huge, Emerson-influenced keyboards with Niall Mathewson’s muscular guitar to forge a harder, more cinematic sound, often touched by science fiction and dystopian themes. Their masterpiece, “The Sentinel,” reimagined the myth of Atlantis as a Cold War parable of surveillance and control, and a taste for grand, theatrical concepts has run through their work ever since. There is melody and AOR polish here too, but the band’s default mode is epic.

If this is your scene, the books go deeper →

From The Sentinel to The Messenger

The eight albums gathered here span Pallas’s long, stop-start career. The EMI-era “The Sentinel” (1984) and “The Wedge” (1986) made their name before a twelve-year hibernation, broken by the energetic comeback “Beat the Drum” (1998). Signing to InsideOut, they hit a rich vein with the concept album “The Cross & the Crucible” (2001) and the epic “The Dreams of Men” (2005), before “XXV” (2011) and “Wearewhoweare” (2014) carried them on. In 2023, with long-serving singer Alan Reed back in the fold, they returned with “The Messenger.”

Album by album

Eight albums of powerful, sci-fi-tinged neo-prog. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

Pallas have long been anchored by a trio of stalwarts: guitarist Niall Mathewson and bassist Graeme Murray, both with the band since the 1970s, and keyboardist Ronnie Brown, a key voice across two long spells. The drum stool passed from founding-era Derek Forman to Colin Fraser in 1998. The microphone has seen more change: Euan Lowson sang on the classic “The Sentinel,” before Alan Reed — formerly of fellow Scots Abel Ganz — took over for some twenty-six years and most of the band’s catalogue, with Paul Mackie fronting the band in between Reed’s two stints. It is a line-up built on remarkable Aberdeen loyalty.

Where to start

Start with “The Sentinel” (1984), Pallas’s landmark debut and one of neo-prog’s defining albums — a powerful, sci-fi concept record that still sounds huge. From there, the acclaimed comeback “Beat the Drum” (1998) shows the band reborn with fresh energy, while the concept album “The Cross & the Crucible” (2001) is the pick of their later, proggier work. Three albums that span their long and unusual journey.

Why they still matter

Pallas matter as one of the bands that built neo-prog — a founding force of the early-1980s revival who brought real power, drama and ambition to the genre. Through Niall Mathewson’s guitar, Ronnie Brown’s keyboards and a stubborn, decades-long refusal to give up, they turned an unfashionable sound into a body of bold, cinematic albums crowned by the enduring “The Sentinel.” For anyone who likes their progressive rock heavy, theatrical and unafraid of a grand concept, Pallas are essential.

Browse the bookshelf in the footer →