Scottish progressive rock band Pallas has been active since its inception in 1976. Originally called Rainbow, they changed their name when Ritchie Blackmore formed a band of the same name after leaving Deep Purple. Pallas thus brought together, around its leader Graeme Murray (bass) and keyboardist Mike Stobbie, singer Brian Wood and guitarist Dave Holt until 1979, and drummer Derek Forman. In 1979, the hiring of multi-instrumentalist Niall Mathewson and keyboardist Ronnie Brown made up for the departures of Stobbie and Holt, while the new singer was Euan Lowson. After playing in Scottish clubs and releasing a first self-produced live album, Arrive Alive (1981, re-released on vinyl in 1983), Pallas signed with EMI and found success with The Sentinel (1984), which coincided with the neo-progressive trend carried by other bands such as Marillion, IQ and Pendragon. The Sentinel (number 41 in the UK charts) was followed by The Wedge (number 70 in 1986), with new singer Alan Reed. Pallas, who had a strong live presence, didn't record a new studio album until 1999, Beat the Drum, followed two years later by The Cross & the Crucible, in order to expand their live repertoire. Several live albums followed in the 2000s, between studio returns for The Dreams of Men (2005) and XXV (2011), with singer Paul Mackie, also featured on Wearewhoweare (2014). In 2022, Alan Reed returned to take over at the microphone for the recording of The Messenger, released the following year.
