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By Metal Bulletin Zine
DemiAura The Ascendant Pavement Entertainment 16 July 2021 1. Pleiadian 2. Heavy Skies 3. Between Two Fires 4. Through the Ages 5. The Dreaming 6. Antikythera 7. Escaping the Event Horizon 8. Shining Through 9. Perfidy 10. Equinox According to official sources, the beginnings of this entity seem to go back to the 1990s, and has had various phases, of which this is the most recent, now ready with their debut album finally to see the light of day in 2021. They call home the scorching-heat desert lands of Arizona, in the southwestern United States, bordering with Mexico. For years figuratively wandering in the desert, drummer Keith Heaney, guitarist Bobby Chávez and keyboardist Jonathan Gabriel, Jr. had been trying to find a singer. They have must tried to sing themselves. The drummer maybe found out that singing and playing drums live is not that much fun. The guitarist felt too busy playing guitar, perhaps, as did the keyboardist, who might not be a multitasker, anyway. Maybe they found other singers, but it just did not work out, obviously. They say that in 2017 someone auditioned and their singer had finally arrived in the form of vocalist Chelsea Wrathchild. Enter the 2021 version of DemiAura and their debut album. DemiAura can be summarized in one word: quality. Some bands are funny, dexterous, fast, slow, heavy, weird, political, weightlifters, cape wearers, avocado aficionados or whatever else. However, the Arizonans have a passion for quality. That's their starting point. If these desert inhabitants could ask a question, it would be, "When you hear our music, are you able to hear the quality of it?" Their hope is that people who are music supporters will give them more than a few seconds to decide if they like it or not. As far the musicianship goes, not only does the album sound clear and professional, their skill and hard work is easy to hear. The music is mostly midtempo, melodic, and relatively mellow. Attention: As long as the listener is patient enough to let the music do its job in the mind, with time to unfold in one’s imagination, the music holds value for the audience. On the other hand, it is very possible that the band has a perfectionist streak in them, and they have carefully composed every note down to the second. Perhaps a bit too much. The music leans substantially on the progressive side, to the detriment of the rocking side. This makes the album an interesting listen to the audiences supportive of melodic prog, but it might be too anti-rocking or anti-fun for younger audiences or for the audiences that would like a bit more of a balance between rocking and prog. To conclude, the audiences of melodic, pleasant, lighter prog with singing should consider giving their attention to this debut album. It is probable that the music will offer a fresher, newer presentation that will complement nicely the older and established traditional acts of the genre. Original article link: https://metalbulletin.blogspot.com/2021/07/demiaura.html By Bryce Van Patten at Metal Express Radio
Prog Power Trio Finds a Voice Though they’ve been around since the 90s as an instrumental group, DemiAura are releasing their debut album as a 4 piece band titled The Ascendant on Pavement Records. Originally conceptualized by drummer Keith Heaney, guitarist Bobby Chavez and keyboardist Jonathan Gabriel, Jr., the trio had sought a vocalist for years without a finding the perfect fit. That all changed in 2017 when they teamed with singer Chelsea Wrathchild, completing the Progressive Metal lineup, and leading to this first excellent offering. Melody Meets Math As one would expect with a Prog Metal band, there are lots of tricky time signatures to twist the brain. The guitar work is phenomenal, The keyboards are epic while the drums are expertly played. DemiAura draws its influences from giants of the genre like Rush, Fates Warning, Tesseract, Periphery, Liquid Tension Experiment, and Opeth to name a few. Making the change from a purely instrumental band to having a lead vocalist is not an easy task, and they are on their way to perfecting that goal. Final NotesThe music is well written on every track. The musicianship all around is fantastic. Chelsea Wrathchild has an excellent voice, and seems a great fit with the band. That said, the songs are a bit on the long side, and could use more vocal parts to break things up. This is a strong debut album, with many great atmospheric moments punctuated by heavy syncopation. Fans of Dream Theater, Sons of Apollo, DGM and Progressive Heavy Metal will certainly dig The Ascendant. Definitely worth having in your collection! Lineup Chelsea Wrathchild – vocals Keith Heaney – drums Bobby Chavez – guitar Jonathan Gabriel, Jr. – keyboards The Ascendant – Tracklist 01 – Pleiadian 02 – Heavy Skies 03 – Between Two Fires 04 – Through the Ages 05 – The Dreaming 06 – Antikythera 07 – Escaping the Event Horizon 08 – Shining Through 09 – Perfidy 10 – Equinox More Posts for Show: Daily Album Premieres Original article link: https://www.metalexpressradio.com/2021/07/13/demiaura-the-ascendant/ |
