'The Damnation Project' is a Greek band that was formed in 2009, with the band's self-titled debut album (see here) in 2012, and, of the basic line up, only vocalist and guitarist 'Ioannis Degdekis' remains, the other members being 'Dimitris Papaioannou' on drums, 'Theodoros Chrysanthidis ' on bass and 'Manos Skaramankas' on keyboards. They offer us with this fourth album which bears the sober number 4, a mix of classic rock and hard rock tinged with psychedelia and with some progressive incursions.
The album begins with 'Show Me' which takes us back a few decades with a nice alternation between energetic parts and other calmer ones, then, 'Decisions' is more measured and offers a memorable melody which unrolls a slow repetitive tempo on which we abandon ourselves completely. This is followed by the quiet and relaxing semi-acoustic instrumental, 'A Secret Walk to The Beach', with a beautiful guitar accompaniment, then, 'I Can See You', which was the subject of a single, takes us on an 8 minutes psychedelic ride time machine to stop us between the 60s and 70s, the clear atmosphere being able to think of certain titles of the beginning of 'Pink Floyd'. More muscular, 'Saturday Night' unfolds a memorable melody which this time is reminiscent of the great names of hard rock of the 70s and, with the instrumental 'Memories', we continue in a quieter atmosphere, the guitar bringing, again, a vintage side. The second part of the album continues in this direction with a return to the 70s: witness 'A Game of Chess' with its repetitive but effective theme, the beautiful ballad 'Go to Hell' in crescendo, the acoustic guitar/voice 'Soul Kitchen Blues' brings us back to more traditional song with artists like 'Cat Stevens', the rhythmic 'Woman' which gives an irresistible desire to headbang, the driving 'Fool to Cry' with its remarkable guitar solo , the album ending in a refined atmosphere with the exotic instrumental 'Siempre' which rocks us gently with a very beautiful accompaniment of a classical acoustic guitar which makes us escape under the sky of the Mediterranean as a certain 'Steve Hackett'.
In summary, this new album from 'The Damnation Project' takes us back a few decades with a nice sample of different styles ranging from acoustic songs to hard rock, passing through very beautiful instrumentals and, if you are amateur or amateur of atmospheres of the 70s, you should without a doubt adhere to this number '4' of the Greeks... | |
