HALF WAY HOME

"They're the new (new) Pink Floyd apparently, yeah that and some more"

DeeExpus is the brainchild of the multi-talented Andy Ditchfield. Originally a solo project, this their debut album really began to take shape when Ditchfield was re-acquainted with vocalist Tony Wright in 2007. The two set to work in Ditchfield's recently complete home studio writing and recording what would become "Half way home". The result is a quite astonishing debut, full of confidence and quality.

Ditchfield makes no secret of his admiration for Steve Wilson and his love of the music of Porcupine Tree. Indeed, one of the tracks here called "PTtee" tells how Ditchfield's attendance at a Porcupine Tree gig (including references to the set list!) inspired him at a time when he was becoming disillusioned with his own involvement music. While the results bear clear influences of Wilson's band, this is no clone project by any means. The band's website talks of diverse influences ranging from Joe Jackson through to Marillion via Iron Maiden, but in the end this is an album to be savoured for its own merits.

Apart from the brief link piece "One day", the seven tracks here are all fully developed epics, cumulating in the sublime 17 minute "Half way home". We open with "Greed", a highly melodic number with a heavy rhythm base supporting some fine guitar and keyboards. The song would have fitted in well on Porcupine Tree's "Deadwing" album, but while the guitar riffs are highly reminiscent of those of Steve Wilson, the keyboard sounds offer a distinct differentiation from the mood of that fine album.

Wright's vocal talents come through on the slightly softer "Pointless child". The lyrics offer a cynical view on a soured relationship ("What you need is therapy"), with Ditchfield adding some superb lead guitar as the anger builds. The aforementioned "PTtee" again features Wilson like guitar riffs, the alliterate story actually conveying itself rather well. The track features some pleasing piano over the striking riffs. At over 12 minutes, this magnificent piece forms one of the (many) highlights of the album.

"One eight" includes a highly original concept, where eight friends are referred to simply by the numbers one through to eight. The story of an event involving the octet is told rather cryptically, against another supremely melodic backdrop climaxing in a frantic guitar solo. The brief instrumental "One day" is a pleasant, mainly acoustic link number leading to "Seven nights", another fine, well developed song which appears to tell the tale of a holiday romance (or not!).

The 17 minute title track closes the album. The lyrics paint a picture of a relationship through the years from schooldays, through marriage, to a (possibly) tragic ending. The song draws in the various styles and sounds which have made up the album thus far, creating a composition of true depth and maturity. The expanded track length facilitates greater development of the piece, but the results remain tight and focused.

"Half way home" is a magnificent statement of intent from Andy Ditchfield and indeed DeeExpus. The album projects a quality and completeness which other bands may strive for for many years. Highly recommended.

2009 has seen some fantastic releases so far and this debut from DeeExpus is no exception. The quality of the music, playing and production belies the fact that this is indeed the first release from Andy Ditchfield. One gets a sense of love, care and attention that has been put into every aspect of making this record. There's fantastic use of sequencers and percussive vibes, underpinned by (Steve Wilson style) heavy guitar riffing, none more so than on the Porcupine Tree tribute track 'PTtee' - 12 minutes of bliss, which would sit very comfortably on any of at least the last 3 Porcupine Tree albums! The Glockenspiel at the end of the track isso simple yet works perfectly.

'Greed' - the opener - again reminds one of Porcupine Tree, but the end section contains a more neo-progressive rock keyboard lead lines, which harken back to the likes of Grey Lady Down. 'Pointless Child' is more heavy neo-prog, the keys take a lot of lead lines here but the heavy guitar riffs are never far away and a vocal harmony section towards the end reminded me of the eponymous track off Mark Shreeve's Nocturne album!

'One Eight' has some fantastic lead guitar lines and paradoxical as it might sound, the percussive and melodic vibes of the glockenspiel in the background really underpins this track well. 'One Day' is a short acoustic interlude before the penultimate track 'Seven Nights', which is a very melodic track with great vocals and keys taking the lead lines. This reminded me of Blackfield. And then three minutes in, there's a change of tempo when Mr D takes us on a journey which takes in Shadowland and earlyish Pendragon for a couple of minutes before a chorus coda fades out the track.

And finallty to the epic album closer and title track 'Half Way Home'. There's a statement of intent right from the word go, with heavy guitar chords, rich organ and strong percussives taking us two minutes in. Then the music is stripped back to a more gentle sound and the vocals are introduced. It takes on a verse-chrous feel for a few minutes; indeed, this portion could be lifted out of the track and would work as a seperate track by litself. However, it blends in seamlessly and just after the 6 minute mark there's a PT style instrumental passage for a minute before a blast of good old fashioned heavy metal take us into an ambient spoken vocal (think PT circa Voyage 34) before a lovely piano / vocal part leads into some GLORIOUS mellotron! There is the inevitable grand finale when the track is wrapped up with more heavy guitar fanfares and lovely vocal harmonies; all in all, a fine track and one of the best of 2009 so far.

I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to hearing a lot more from Andy Ditchfield and co, following this extremely promising debut.

I was introduced to DeeExpus during a break at the 3 Rivers Progressive Rock Festival by the organizer of RosFest. He played it on his car's stereo for a bunch of us who were tailgating between shows.

DeeExpus Project actually "out-porcupine-trees" Porcupine Tree with this album! While PT is one of the most impressive bands in the Prog Universe, DeeExpus takes Steven Wilson to task with a rich, sophisticated, and extremely listenable album.

"Greed" is the best song of the year. But "PTTee" (an ode to the greatness of Porcupine Tree, especially their album Deadwing, one of the best of all time) comes in a close second. Pointless Child is haunting and beautiful - with harmonies singing of a despairing relationship.

Having enjoyed their second album so much, it only seemed right and proper to go back to the debut to see how that stacked up. Given that it was released in 2008 I am just a little behind the curve, but given the size of the prog scene here in NZ I'll forgive myself. As with their second album here is a band that is full of maturity and power ? it just doesn't seem that they have been around for such a short period of time. This is all about great songs and musicianship, combined with powerful production and stacks of hooks. There is enough complexity for any proghead, with melodies and counter-melodies throughout while at the same time the vocals lines are easy to get involved with. It is an 'immediate' album, one that can be listened to for the very first time with a smile on the face, and when it comes to the end the only sensible thing to do is to put it on again and get even further immersed in their world. They have been compared by many to Porcupine Tree, but while I can see that as an influence these guys are way more than just copyists with nods to Gentle Giant and Marillion among the mix.

One of my favourites is by far the shortest song on the album, "One Day", which is a gentle piano and acoustic guitar instrumental duet that demonstrates that beautiful music doesn't always need words, or great length. In contrast, the album closer and title track belts in at more than 17 minutes with wonderful complex rhythms and guitar lines at the beginning that cries out Mr So & So. In fact, my only complaint at the end of playing this album is that the lyrics in the booklet are just too hard to read! They may fit on two pages on font 5, but some of us are getting on a bit now?

Seriously, this is a great album from a band who at this time were more a project than a group. If you have yet to come across DeeExpus then you owe it to your ears to investigate this great British group at www.deeexpus.com

I liked Deeexpus' 'The King of Number 33' so much; I went out and lassoed their debut as well as their Live in Poland DVD, mostly due to the amazing sounds that I witnessed on that magic second album. My favorite drummer Henry Rogers plays on the DVD but not on the debut, which suits me fine,

'Greed' is malicious opener, armed with a punishing barrage of mighty drums (Leigh Crowther), flailing along to the keyboard ('Cynthia'sizer again) sway, backed by gorgeous Tony Wright vocals and a Phil Sloane lead guitar solo. The setting is metallic heavy-prog like In Absentia-era Porcupine Tree, relentlessly hacking away at the pleasure nodes. Bassist Ian Raine holds down a cavernous low-end, dexterous and powerful, a dream come true for bass fans, what a cool and simple riff can do to an arrangement, what a way to kick of a debut disc! Phew!

'Pointless Child' forges the melancholia ahead, very despondent and binary rhythms unite to form a classical prog- ballad, presenting a valorous vocal full of emotion, the bass bubbling along and the bashing drums. The piano sits way in front, almost childlike in its expression, as the song becomes more upbeat and graceful, at times even close to breezy and well-crafted English pop (say Supertramp with a wicked guitar).

If Porcupine Tree was referenced earlier, here is the undeniable proof in the pudding! A track called 'PTtee' is no coincidence and the music within involves a Kraftwerk-like drone intro on ponging synths (TEE-era) and the impetuous guitars pummeling mightily, razor- sharp and lethal, the rumbling surge devastates , only to be briefly softened by an elegant piano sortie. Crowther is no slouch on the drummies, hitting hard and often! This is another awesome track, gargantuan pillars of 'boom' batter the brain into proggy submission, showing why there has been so much recent adulation for this talented band. The seeds were set here for the sophomore release of which this is a fine (though tougher) brother. A Manfred Mann-like synth blast (Mike Henderson ) adds even higher octane fuel to the incandescent fire, slipping into a serene mid-section with e-piano (devilish decision!). The colossal guitar solo is ridiculously raucous, careening outrageously and brashly untamed, searing the chorus all the way. Phew!

'One Eight' mellows the atmosphere somewhat, an effortless piano theme and a sweepingly sweet voice dance in loving embrace , hip to hip and lip to lip. It's a slow comprehensive song, with massive orchestrations that suddenly (you guessed it) gets heavy. An extended Sloane onslaught (word games again!) leaves any potential indifference far behind, catapulting the piece forward like a laser-guided projectile. Power ending, boom! Phew!

Snippet time for 'One Day' , a Beatles White Album-like ditty , pastoral Englishness front and center, cricket and crumpets, if you please!

'Seven Nights' owns a bass riff to exhale for and some delectable Tony Wright vocals, soulful, groovy and memorable, held together by an accessible chorus, all amalgamate like a proggier Level 42. Insistant synths and drums induce hypnosis and ultimately the Formula One guitar solo nails you to the cross. Titanic track, this! Phew! To have the sheer audacity to end their premiere release with a 17 minute rambler, well'..That's ballsy! The title track 'Half Way Home' has all the ingredients necessary to vulcanize the finest pedigree of prog . The usual premeditated cheerful introduction blooms into a shimmering refrain, organ trembling mightily, guitars clanging with joy and exalted vocals. The bass and drum arsenal packs a tight punch and batter ahead mercilessly. The raging guitar swirls screech amid the leaden riffs, veering nearly into heavy-metal delirium. We are brought back to placidity with a forlorn narrative vocal effect and a gloomy musical pretense, pioneered by classic Pink Floyd, the bass taking over the controls to the heart of the home. Intensely dreamy and touching, the epic searches out many volatile sonic landscapes, blending luxuriant symphonics with stunning effect (cascades of mellotron). Then things boom-boom again, break-neck sizzle, machine gun guitar, bass and drum salvos, what a climate of swirling panacea! I have rarely witnessed such a powerful progressive rock epic. My goodness! Phew!

This is the essence of Deeexpus' talent, the ability to go from very heavy to very airy, and back, without being corny and mostly, by adhering to the structural purity of their craft. That is laudable to the hilt. Andy Ditchfield is another musical genius, I can assure you! A star is born!

5 Phews

Still known as The DeeExpus Project at this point, DeeExpus' first album Half Way Home finds the gang angling for a place amongst the UK's new prog innovators. It's clear that the band all have a deep affection for the scene when they include here a song like PTtee, which is a song about going to a Porcupine Tree concert and how ace Steven Wilson and his band are, and there's definitely a Stupid Dream/Lightbulb Sun-era Porcupine Tree influence at work here. Still, the band are capable enough that these occasional acts of homage don't descend into pastiche, and the album as a whole is a fun listen.

After listening to the debut album HALF WAY HOME of DeeExpus, there's only one thing I could say: I'm glad there's still really good music in this planet! This album is really remarkable. Although it is marked here as a heavy prog album, which indeed it is, it also contains many elements of neo progressive sound, and that combination was really awesome. All the tracks have this trend of sounding hard at parts, melodic at others. The musicians are really remarkable, and there are some songs that resemble Porcupine Tree (especially some fragments that made me think I was about to hear "Anesthetize") but in a very different version. Deeexpus might be said to be the calm version of PT. Very good album!

Two old teenage bandmates frok the North-Eastern part of England decided to form this project in 2007.Multi-instrumentalist Andy Ditchfield teamed up with singer Tony Wright after many years and DeeExpus became reality, following the already prepared ideas of the first.The initial plan was to form a proper group, but the two decided to write down the material for the first album on their own forces.A team of guest musicians was gathered in order to record this debut work, these were guitarist Phil Sloane, bassist Ian Raine and drummer Leigh Crowther.The album, entitled ''Half way home'', was independently released in 2008.

DeeExpus belong to the second incarnation of Neo Prog groups, which started to add heavier overtones in their music, still retaining some of the magic from the old years.Good things is the band sounds pretty flexible, incredibly passionate and dymamic and sufficiently inspired to offer long tracks with dominant guitars, clean yet expressive vocals and a fair number of keyboard acrobatics.The production is good and the arrangements are interesting with accesible lyrical material, pounding rhythmic tones and some impressive, bombastic sections.Although less symphonic in nature than the earlier bands of the style, DeeExpus manage to deliver music with endless energy, grandiose moments and lots of modern colors, featuring sound effects, vocal distortions and metallic guitar riffing.The enviroment remains proggy enough with numerous changing moods and alternating tempos, passing from emotional songwriting to powerful instrumental themes with comfort.On the other hand their first effort fails a bit in terms of originality, sounding somewhere between ARENA, PORCUPINE TREE and KNIGHT AREA, combining the great vocals with powerful guitars and sharp keyboards with constant presence of more laid-back piano textures.The songwriting though is solid enough to satisfy fans of modern Prog Rock.

Good to great debut, which seems to contain an inner spark, ready to set everything on fire in the not too distant future.Bombastic and mascular Neo/Heavy Prog with efficient keyboard and guitar waves.Recommended.

DEEEXPUS was the brainchild of multi-instrumentalist Andy Ditchfield who is also a songwriter, composer and producer. "Half Way Home" is the debut and really a duo at this point with Tony Wright the singer plus we get several guests adding solos here and there. I liked this album from the first spin, in fact I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed this obscure band. Yes Andy is a huge PORCUPINE TREE fan and going to one of their concerts inspired him to keep going in the music business so we do get that "In Absentia"/"Deadwing" vibe happening on this 59 minute record. This recording is nice and heavy at times with those riffs, lots of depth with a good singer and good songs making this a solid 4 star recording in my world.

"Greed" the opener is a top three for me with those repetitive sounds and repeated themes but bottom line this just sounds great. Lots of synths on this one. "Pointless Child" is almost as good and I like the electric piano on this one. Some beauty here as well. "PTtee" is a top three and the over 12 minute homage to PORCUPINE TREE usually with the guitar expressions but also with the vocals. This song has it all, the heaviness, lots of synths even sequencers early on. The vocals before 8 1/2 minutes are shockingly Steven Wilson.

We get a couple of 7 minute range tracks after this in "One Eight" and "Seven Nights". "One Day" reminds me of PT with the samples and music over 1 1/2 minutes then there's the mammoth closer, the title track at over 17 minutes. This is not without it's flaws like the whole album but it also hits some highs. Man they are on fire late after 13 minutes and then anthemic is the word a couple of minutes after this. A sample of someone giving a speech is so PT after a powerful section where the guitar is on fire around the 7 minute mark.

A very good album that PT fans should have some love for but as much as I've referenced PT it really just has that flavour pop up every once in a while. They contrast sounds very well, the mellow and heavy. A feel good album for me.