Scott's Spotlight #51- Damanek

 

Welcome to Scott’s Spotlight (#scottsspotlight) issue #51.  For more information about this series, please click here:

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Today, I am putting the spotlight on Damnek. Damanek was formed in 2017 as an offshoot of United Progressive Fraternity (UPF), which in turn is an offshoot of Unitopia, which I previously spotlighted earlier in the year.  Vocalist/Keyboardist/Multi-instrumentalist Guy Manning (The Tangent and his own band Manning), Marek Arnold (woodwinds and keyboards), who played with Manning, and bassist Dan Mash (Maschine with Luke Machin whom I recently reviewed) had been a part of UPF along with Mark “Truey” Truek (Unitopia) and Steve Unruh (Unitopia).  The three were considered to be the European contingent of UPF, while the others were Australian.  After the first UPF album, Guy Manning began writing for a new UPF album, but Truey and Unruh wanted the band to be Australian and didn’t feel like Manning’s songs fit the direction they wanted to take UPF in.  So Manning, Arnold, and Mash chose to start their own band to record the songs.  They invited the other main man from Unitopia, keyboardist Sean Timms, to produce and join the band. (As noted in the Unitopia, Truey and Timms had had a serious falling out, and Unitopia didn’t exist at the time).

The first Damanek album, titled “On Track” was released in 2017 with Manning, Arnold, Mash, and Timms listed as band members along with several guest musicians, including Luke Machin on guitar.  The music is very melodic, sometimes symphonic, with occasional hints of jazz-fusion due to Arnold’s sax and woodwind parts.  Some of my favorites from it include “Long Time, Shadow Falls”, “Believer-Redeemer”, and the nearly 14-minute epic, “Dark Sune”.  The album has a respectable average rating of 3.76 out of 5 stars on Prog Archives (PA).

They would follow-up the debut the next year in 2018, with an even more epic album, titled “In Flight”.  This one maintained the same official line-up as the first album, with Luke Machin and many other guest musicians on board.  I have enjoyed the track “The Crawler” (8:51) and the three-part epic suite “Big Eastern”, which clocks in at over 30 minutes over three tracks. This is their highest rated album at 4.01 stars out of 5 on PA.

It would be 5 years, however, before the third Damanek album would appear. “Making Shore” was released in 2023.   This one would not include Dan Mash, who left to return his focus to Maschine.  Luke Machin was not involved in this album, as I believe he had begun work on his “Soulshine” album.  Brody Thomas Green is listed as the primary drummer on the album, playing on all but one track. The album is divided into two sections, with Part II being a 5-part suite that totalling about 35 minutes.  Outside of that suite I have enjoyed “Americana” and “Crown of Thorns”.  It garnered  3.69 out of 5 on PA.

If you enjoy well-written, arranged and performed eclectic prog, Damanek is a band worth checking out.  As always, check out the links for listening below.

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Prog On!

Scott

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 Links for Listening:

From “On Track”

“Believer-Redeemer”

https://youtu.be/gj5xSU4ZZqo

“Dark Sune”

https://youtu.be/57CGshJXdpQ

From “In Flight”

“The Crawler”

https://youtu.be/v0uIieJ0FEg

“Big Estern Pt 2- The Shaking Earth”

https://youtu.be/wH-m_VSihPk

From “Making Shore”

“Crown of Thorns”

https://youtu.be/GmZknvifXNA

“Oculus Overture”

https://youtu.be/EPlPPytJN08