Pinnacle Point – 'Symphony of Mind'

The pinnacle of anything is defined as the highest point, so therefore by that definition, the pinnacle point is when someone or something peaks. For The Beatles, their pinnacle point was Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album that sold over 32 million copies. To use a football analogy, Denmark’s pinnacle point was winning the 1992 European Championships against all the odds. So, in its simplest term, the pinnacle point is the greatest success achieved.

The above explanation perhaps helps to partly explain the psych behind naming a band Pinnacle Point. It suggests a group of musicians who want to push their talents to the limit and won’t stop until they’ve produced the best record they can possibly make… and that was certainly true of Pinnacle Point’s 2017 debut album Winds of Change, which was released to great reviews and made some melodic rock ‘best of’ lists for the year. Founded by ex-Angelica vocalist and keyboardist Jerome Mazza and Danish guitarist Torben Enevoldsen (Fate, Acacia Avenue), they set the bar high with their excellent debut, creating an expectation for a similar or even better quality to their sophomore album, Symphony of Mind, due for release through Escape Music on 17th July 2020.

With that in mind, Mazza, Enevoldsen and guitarist/composer Rich Ayala set to work writing the music, whilst recruiting some top-notch musicians to complete the line-up; Mark Prator on drums, Japanese prog musician Takeaki Itoh on bass, Howard Helm providing additional keyboards/organ/synths and John F Rodgers on piano and strings. Such was Mazza’s determination to bring his vision for the album to life, he scoured the globe for a violinist who could provide the sound and style required, eventually discovering Valeria Pozharitskaya from Belarus after having already auditioned 16 others! With proven songwriters working together and stellar musicians providing their talents, I listened to Symphony of Mind with great anticipation. Could this surpass the pinnacle of their debut?

As with their first album, Symphony of Mind kicks off with an instrumental track, Ascent to the Point. Written by Howard Helm, it’s progressive rock from beginning to end, reminiscent of some of the great prog bands of the 70s. The track starts and finishes with the organ sound of Dutch prog masters Focus at the height of their pomp but in the ‘meat and bone’ of the music, there’s hints of Yes whilst the violin brings the inevitable comparisons with Kansas. Special mention goes to drummer Mark Prator for channelling his inner Neil Peart, never missing a beat, irrespective of time signature.

The second track, So Alive, starts with a catchy Morse Code-style piano intro but becomes more intricate as the song goes on. It’s the first opportunity to hear Jerome Mazza’s vocals on the album too, and they are in fine fettle, his higher octave voice never failing to impress. Takeaki Itoh gets an opportunity to drive the song along with the bass whilst special guest Swedish guitar maestro Tommy Denander (who also wrote the track) gets a chance to stretch out with some outstanding guitar soloing at the outro.

Weight of the World is up next, a track that was released as the first single from the album along with a modern looking, flashy performance music video (well worth checking out on

YouTube!). With Mazza’s vocals at their pitch-perfect best throughout, the song has a fairly fast tempo, driven by a steady drumbeat, bass and rhythm guitar on a bed of keyboards. The chorus is quite irresistible, and I found myself singing along to it on only the second listen! In a clever change of direction, the tempo of the song suddenly changes to a slower, more atmospheric feel in the bridge, before opening up again for a scorching guitar solo by Enevoldsen. The production is crisp and clear with the “weight of the world” refrain backing vocals prominent as Enevoldsen almost shreds in the background. It is probably one of the most accessible and commercial tracks on Symphony of Mind, so it’s easy to hear why it was picked as the lead single. This is truly brilliant stuff and I’m sure it would be a winner in a live setting.

The violin-led opening to fourth track Hero, combined with the power chords and drums, sounds a bit like a much less angry version of Finnish symphonic metal band Apocalyptica! The style of play employed by talented violinist Valeria Pozharitskaya creates a very Eastern European feel to the music that wouldn’t sound out of place in the Eurovision Song Contest. I’m sure many would disagree and perhaps that’s just the tuning of my ear… but either way, it’s a unique and impressive intro. As the verse starts with Mazza’s unmistakeable voice, the acoustic guitar combines beautifully with the keyboards and piano before the violin, bass and drums return to lift the track into a real toe-tapper. The outstanding piano playing at the bridge along with Mazza’s emotional sounding vocals, brings an almost theatrical Broadway Musical feel to proceedings, similar to what Genesis did in their 1970s prog heyday. This is progressive rock at its best!

Never Surrender moves away from the pure progressive rock start to the album with a more commercial AOR/melodic rock sound. Layers of lush keyboards are obvious whilst Itoh’s bass is prominent, tunefully dancing up and down the scales without losing the ability to provide rhythm. The uplifting chorus is tailor-made to sing along to and when Mazza sings “I will never surrender”, he does so with such conviction that you quite believe him! Enevoldsen provides an excellent guitar solo, steady and not too flashy and continues to show his skills in the background as the track draws to a close. For me, this is one of the standout tracks and is one of best melodic rock songs I’ve heard this year.

Valeria Pozharitskaya’s violin returns on the sixth track, In the Wake of Hope, and it’s easy to see why the magnificent Belarusian was chosen by Jerome Mazza after such an extensive worldwide search. She plays with an attack and intensity that is required when solo violins are added to rock music and clearly understood what was required of her during recording of the album. Her interplay with the piano is at times mesmerising and brings an extra dimension to the music, to the stage that I forgot I was listening to a rock album. Mark Prator once again impresses with flourishes of brilliance on the drums, playing more complicated beats in the opening bars that keeps the rhythm section interesting to listen to. Vocals appear to take a back seat to the instruments on this song, allowing the band members their moment to shine.

As the intro to Shadows of Peace plays, the album is now past its midpoint with the violin once again playing a vital melodic role before a short but beautifully constructed harmonic vocal section. As the verse starts, this is possibly the most I’ve heard Pinnacle Point sounding very similar to Leftoverture-era Kansas. John F Rodgers piano and Jerome Mazza’s voice combine to great effect before the drums, bass and guitars bring the track to life with Valeria

Pozharitskaya’s violin once again adding a special touch. The “ah, ah, ah” vocal harmonies return to accompany the violin as the track fades out, leaving me feeling that there’s a definite classic 70s music feeling to proceedings.

As well as being a gifted singer and keyboard player, the next two tracks, Beyond and Nothing at All, demonstrate Jerome Mazza’s excellent song writing skills. Beyond starts with haunting piano and some beautiful strings and before the vocals start has a very James Bond theme feel to it. During writing of the album, Mazza asked his co-writers to contribute uplifting lyrics that listeners could relate to and this is no more evident than on this track. “There are times I remember, seemed to search the world in vain, looking out through blinded eyes, dreaming of fortune”; this is undoubtedly something we have all done at some time in our lives! The chorus is cinematic with huge sounding vocals whilst at varying points in this track, there’s a short section that includes some stunning interplay between strings and piano with softer vocals. If you listen through headphones and close your eyes during these sections, it evokes visions of misty, mountainous fantasy lands. I accept this sounds a bit dramatic… but I challenge anyone to try it!

Initially, Nothing at All is probably as near as Pinnacle Point gets to playing a ballad but this very much changes just over halfway through when the guitar on this track, played by Jim Morris of Morrisound Studios, find a harder edge and leads the music into a Hammond organ-led bridge which finishes with a short but well-constructed solo. The magnificent organ sound by Howard Helm, which has been fairly prominent throughout much of the album, brings something different from standard keyboards and synths and certainly contributes to the 70s prog sound I have mentioned so many times already!

Penultimate track Prodigal has a classic Deep Purple sound to it. The style of the organ sound and the manner in which it is played in the verse has striking similarities to the legendary Jon Lord’s performances and Mazza’s singing style can easily be compared to Ian Gillan in his finest hour, something which I hadn’t really noticed until now. Songwriter Rich Ayala contributes some amazing guitar on this song with more stunning violin added by Valeria Pozharitskaya.

The title track, Symphony of Mind, brings the album to a close and once again starts with the violin sound that has been so important throughout this recording. Valeria Pozharitskaya’s performances are one of the highlights of this album and if there’s any justice in the music industry, we’ll be hearing much more from her. One thing that strikes me about this track is that lyrically, it tells a story. Mazza’s vocals are clear, controlled and pitch perfect during this 7 minute epic; something that helps to bring the story to life and enables the listener to visualise what’s going on in that “sleepy town beneath a harvest moon” as the singer listens to the music through an open window. The last 90 seconds of this track is very much a lesson in outstanding musicianship, the music being played out with each member of the band contributing to an emotional musical climax. Perhaps this isn’t the most accessible track on the album but to me, it’s a culmination of everything that has gone before it and is a masterclass in progressive rock song writing. It’s a truly stunning end to Symphony of Mind.

Jerome Mazza, Torben Enevoldsen and Rich Ayala had a clear vision for Symphony of Mind. They didn’t want to simply copy the template laid down for Pinnacle Point’s debut album,

instead choosing to build on its foundations and create something different. They wanted to make music that harked back to the classic progressive rock sound of the 1970s; a time when bands like Kansas, Yes, Genesis and Rush sold out arenas and ruled radio with epic long players, unusual time signatures, exquisite musical talent and challenging lyrics that made people think. But in 2020, musical audiences can be very different. They can be aurally lazy and want to hear short, snappy hits with simple melodies that aren’t overly complicated… so to make an album like Symphony of Mind was arguably risky. But to me, it’s a risk that paid off with quite stunning results. If you like the idea of classic 70s progressive rock with a modern sound and sheen, similar to bands like Spock’s Beard but more melodic and accessible, this is the album for you. It’s old world combining with modern day to create something very special indeed, driven along by talented musicians and song writers who shared the same vision for a project that was obviously very close to their hearts.

With Symphony of Mind, Mazza, Enevoldsen and co dared to aim high. This album could very well be their own musical pinnacle.