Reviews

There's no way I can review this album without feeling just a bit deceptive without mentioning that I'm not the biggest indie/progressive rock fan in the world. The combination of these words alone brings to mind the unpleasant, trendy downtown clubs, packed with college hipsters (for lack of a better term that's not coming to mind) in striped, collared shirts, feeling the groove of the next next-big-thing band that's spastically shifting under the purple lights to the changing tempos and moods that the crowd is mesmerized by, wondering how the band controls them so well. Musically, the bands often don't control these tricky tempos well, and…well, that's enough of my superficial diatribe. Point is, know that I came into a review like this just a little biased, but gave the album its fair cuts.
 
M(US)IC, Damiera's debut full-length with Equal Vision Records, had me worried with the opening track, "Immure", but the track gained my interest, and while the tempos are all over the place, especially with tracks like "Flora: Yield", the band is convincing of the fact that they, as musicians, are in control. Other tracks, such as "Via Invested", find more solid grounding in driving rock beats that give the listener a break from some of the more musically complex rhythms, while still maintaining Damiera's style. The guitar riffs both on the opening of this track and those that show up on a number of other tracks are enough to gain some attention of their own.
 
Another aspect that helps differentiate this album from its counterparts are the pop hooks a bit more familiar to a band like Gatsby's American Dream, or to a lesser degree Park, that simply make some of these tunes catchy as hell. It makes Damiera an easier band for the casual fan to enjoy and helps to lose some of the pretentious artsy-ness involved in the style, while any of these tracks could just as easily appeal to that crowd. The lack of a full-on falsetto is another factor that makes this album more of a pleasure to follow through to the end. David Raymond has the vocal abilities to hit the high points along the way, but thankfully restrains himself from overusing this talent.
 
The production should also be noted, as it is decidedly much better than their self-titled and self-produced EP, with Jayson Dezuzio now at the helm. The slick sound compliments the band's style well.
 
Still, M(US)IC has its ups and downs. Not everything is on the same creative plane, and while great performances have been recorded for this album throughout, some songs just don't stack up to others. Again, I'm not the biggest progressive indie rock fan out there, and maybe those close to the scene will disagree and see something more in this, but even for the casual fan, it's definitely an accomplishment for the band, and therefore worth a listen, I'm just not sure I'll still be listening 6 months from now.