From Phoenix, Arizona hails the progressive metal band DemiAura, who are comprised of
Bobby Chavez (Guitar, Engineer,Producer, Multi-Instrumentalist), Jonathan Gabriel Jr (Keyboards, Synth, Programming, Multi-Instrumentalist), and Keith Heaney (Drums and Electronic Percussion). The band was formed after the demise of Progressive Rock/Metal Fusion band Organism, and this is their first album, recorded as a pure instrumental release, with plans to re-release it later this year with vocals added. Listing influences such as Iron Maiden, Rush, Fates Warning, Tool, Periphery, Animals as Leaders, Symphony X, Cynic, Opeth, MoonSpell, Type O Negative, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Testament, Dream Theater, Exivious, Textures, Tesseract, and Liquid Tension Experiment, you can basically imagine that the group have a penchant for exciting, complex and at times symphonic music that is also quite heavy, and they deliver plenty of these moments throughout this album. Lots of heavy riffs to be found on "Escaping the Event Horizon", along with some splendid keyboard lines and tricky drum work, while "EntheoGenesis" is a must hear for any fan of Dream Theater & Tesseract. The hard driving "Pleiadian" features some of the albums most blistering riffs, and I'll bet once the band adds vocals this track will be even more menacing. And that's kind of the story as you make your way through the album; the arrangements and musical passages are all expertly played and executed, but it seems like these tracks were written to ultimately feature vocals, so it will be interesting to hear the finalized versions of these songs.
There are some great textures to "Astral World", and the lengthy "The Watchers" is classic progressive metal with its blazing lead guitar work, orchestral synths, and intricate rhythms. The trio really impresses on the melodic prog/fusion workout "Intelligent Design", which features some lovely unison melodies with Gabriel Jr also delivering some incredible keyboard tapestries, and the other album epic "Metempsychosis" is a raging, boiling miasma of complex arrangements that features some killer guitar work from Chavez. These guys certainly know how to play!
Overall, this is very impressive material, and I'm looking forward to hearing what it all sounds like with vocals. Plenty of crunch, complex, atmospheric at times, and loads of melody...what more do we want from our progressive metal! DemiAura are certainly a band to keep a close eye on.
Track Listing
1
EntheoGenesis
2
Escaping The Event Horizon
3
Pleiadian
4
The Dreaming
5
Astral World
6
The Watchers
7
Intelligent Design
8
Wind Of Deliverance
9
Metempsychosis
10
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