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Demians - Building An Empire review



Reviewer:
8.0

29 users:
8.34
Band: Demians
Album: Building An Empire
Release date: 2008


01. The Perfect Symmetry
02. Shine
03. Sapphire
04. Naive
05. Unspoken
06. Temple
07. Empire
08. Sand
09. Earth [limited edition bonus]

"Building On Empire" will probably become the Progressive sensation made in France of the year 2008. Written and played by a young French dude, Nicolas Chapel, the first album of this one man band will surprise a lot of people, and this is not Steven Wilson himself which will say the opposite, just have a look on his words: "One of the most assured and accomplished debut albums I've ever heard, the textures and dynamics within the music are breathtaking. A must for everyone who appreciates the art of epic and ambitious 21st century rock music".

I understand why a guy like Steven Wilson likes the music of Demians, because Porcupine Tree and Demians aren't so different in the end. Without being a clone of the British combo, Demians plays in the same category. The music of Nicolas Chapel is a really good emotive and dark Progressive Metal. Complex with a lot of variations and different structures in its songs, "Building On Empire" is full of great songs. Sure it's Metal on a side but like Porcupine Tree this is also Pop and Rock but always Progressive of course. Some songs like "Naïve" can be folk, some others like "Shine" have real heavy riffs, this album is varied. But of course one of the important and positive points of the album comes from the ambiances of each song. This is always a bit melancholic a bit dark also but I don't know why (probably because Nicolas is a good writer) the songs are always catchy and finally not so depressive.

Perfectly produced and with an excellent interpretation of all the songs by Nicolas Chapel (he sings but also play all the instruments of the album), "Building On Empire" is great album in my opinion. I like to listen to Progressive Music, Rock and Metal, and "Building On Empire" is a perfect mix of those two genres. Sure "Building On Empire" is maybe not so revolutionary and maybe that this release album is a bit too much influenced by bands like Porcupine Tree but at least this is just a matter of influences and not something which is similar. Steven Wilson is right, for a debut album this is more than convincing.

"Building On Empire" is highly recommended to all the people who like classy dark Progressive Metal. I'm sure that Demians will become a famous band because with such first album the best can be expected for the future of this French combo. Let's hope that I'm not so wrong and just have a look on "Building On Empire" to see that we're in front of a really promising combo. "Building On Empire" is one of the big revelations of the French Metal scene!


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 8
Originality: 8
Production: 9

Written by Jeff | 26.04.2008




Comments

Comments: 5   Visited by: 57 users
05.05.2008 - 17:06
Thordelan

Couldn't wait anymore since I've been waiting this album for a year so I downloaded it and this is definitly an amazing album for a debut album. Even more impressive considering it's a one man band. I'm already waiting for the next one and I'm definitly buying this one.
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31.07.2008 - 01:57
Rating: 9
Dream Taster
The Enemy Within
Excellent album from A to Z. Thanks for sharing this Jeff!
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17.02.2009 - 23:00
Duality

Excellent album, but has nothing to do with metal.
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"He who controls the past controls the future.
He who controls the present controls the past"
- George Orwell
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31.07.2009 - 15:36
João Pirucas
Mr. Piruson
Awesome album indeed, so inspiring.
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10.01.2012 - 13:56
ToMegaTherion

I really enjoyed this album, one man bands can mean on of two things, either the guy is hard to work with, or he is a musical genius and any additonal band member can only ever play second fiddle to the dude in charge which can be hard for any musician who wants to streatch themselves. In this case though, the later is most likely the case
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