BUILDING AN EMPIRE

Demians is a brand new band that released their debut this year and therefore there is no reference in case you're in doubt for buying this album. I was in that situation, listened to a song or two in the store and bought it hoping for good fortune for the rest. Of course there was also the streamsong on PA but that's just one song and not enough to build a decision on.

After a few listens it appeared to sound a bit like equal newcomer Ephrat who is in the same subcategory (heavy prog). It also slightly resembles Oceansize but Demians is more quiet and laidback and misses the psychedelic guitar passages that is characteristic for Oceansize. But apart from that the style slightly the same.

A good example for this is the opener The perfect Symmetry especially in the second half of the song. Next song, Shine, starts quietly but after 1,5 minute it really breaks out then quiets down again and appears to be the prelude for the stream track on PA, Sapphire. I can't say this song is more different than the opener and listening to all the other songs I come to the same conclusion more or less.

And in fact this is my main criticism on this album, it's too much of the same. On the other hand there is an advantage detectable because except for the already mentioned (slight) resemblances with other bands I think I will have to admit this band has its own sound. They are not a clone of some other band and I think that's worth a lot. Another advantage can be that if you really love the style and sound this is a great treat for over an hour. Highlights are Unspoken and especially Sand to me and this last song is in fact the song that made me get the feeling I was listening to Oceansize for a while. But again: this is not a copy of any band and the best you can do is check them out for yourself.

I believe they are worth it but despite high quality and good songs this ultimately does not correspond well enough with my personal taste. Objectively this could be 4 stars but for me the recent average (3,40) reflects perfectly what it's worth to me.