"All That We've Learned is Bound to Be Wrong"
Daymoon. This is a full on progressive rock outfit that has been knocking around since the early 90's. The international lineup, spanning Germany, Brazil and Portugal to name just three countries, mix up just about every style they can get their hands on in this, their debut full-length record "All Tomorrows".
All Tomorrows opens with its namesake track. Descending bass and organ immediately brings good old Deep Purple to mind, but things quickly expand into ever changing areas that never seem to repeat but manage to be fresh and memorable. The bulk of this track is ambitious prog rock in all its glory, finishing up with a lush, folky outro that seems to come out of nowhere, and the ear splitting sound of a flat heart rate monitor to see it out. Classy stuff! Followed by the short and fierce 'TrancendenZ', the intro of which is the heaviest piece of music you're likely to hear made by woodwind and Spanish guitar. Hard riffing electrics and sax come into the melee before long in a Steve Vai style jam.
'Human Again' is reminiscent of all the things I love about Popol Vuh (watch old Werner Herzog films and you'll see what I mean): rich and winding and always taking you somewhere. Luis Estorninho's penetrating bass sound shines through here, as does drummer Bruno Capelas' inventivness with his beats. Things go all Dark Side of the Moon in the last few minutes before the return of a motif from the song's beginning, and close.
'Marrakech' begins with a few moments of spoken word tension before turning in a Syd Barrett direction. A disorientating array of instrumental and nature sounds make this a track you wouldn't want to hear when severely stoned...or maybe you would, I dunno! Next up is the dark and remorseful 'Sorry' which twists and turns slowly as if moving through a musical mist.
At this stage, about half way through the record, the band have touched upon so many rock genres that you wonder where they have left to go. The very chilled 'Bell Jar' introduces electronic drums that are unprecedented on the record so far. A Mike-Oldfield-cum-Trip-hop vibe is created as the track progresses. 'First Rain' sounds like a small army of acoustic guitars on a mission to sooth the soul. I don't know if there is a name for it but Daymoon seem to have picked up a little of that Scandinavian musical sensibility, the kind you here with bands like The Gathering. If anyone knows what I mean and whether it has a name or not, please tell me.
'First Rain' moves into 'Arklow' and all of a sudden Daymoon seem very close to home (Arklow being an Irish town), and perhaps the name is influencing my ear but there is a touch of Irish music influence on this track. 'News From the Outside' returns to the Dark Side era Floyd style, with curious use of tremolo effect on the vocals throughout. We're now reaching the end of the record with 'The Sum'. Again my taste for Krautrock is satisfied with a peculiar menagerie of sounds which shift from neo-classical to psychedelic Beatles with ease, with a few Brann Dailor drum fills to boot.
"All Tomorrows" is about as rich and varied an album as you could ask for. Daymoon leave no stylistic stone unturned and to amazing effect. This is clearly a band that is not afraid to write any kind of music that comes to mind. Pink Floyd fans will cream themselves with tracks like 'Human Again' while even some fans of Opeth's 'Heritage' will dig the more guitar heavy work on here. The musicians themselves are a force to be reckoned with: the lead guitar breaks have all the best elements of the traditional and the modern, while the bass and drums keep everything solid as a rock throughout, allowing the keys, woodwind, sax and Spanish guitars to add vivid colour throughout. Follow the link below to Daymoon's bandcamp and you can download the record in full. As well as getting a quality album you'll be contributing to a good cause since all proceeds from the album sales will go to singer Fred Lessing's wife's cancer treatment.
Daymoon, "All Tomorrows"
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