DAY AFTER YESTERDAY

US project DEATON LEMAY PROJECT is spearheaded by composers and musicians Roby Deaton and Craig LeMay. Just how long this creative duo has been collaborating isn't exactly stated anywhere, but as I've seen phrases about a project 25 years in the making somewhere I presume the ideas for this venture has been ongoing for some time. DLP self-released their debut album "Day After Yesterday" towards the tail end of 2019.

Classic era symphonic progressive rock can come in many different guises, and in this case the most dominant aspect of the album are keyboard arrangements it's just about impossible to listen to without thinking of the late Keith Emerson. My impression is that this album as a whole has stronger similarities with the later ELP offshoot 3 than ELP itself, at least the more expressive parts of the sole studio album by 3 from the 1980's. That being said, I rather suspect that the majority of ELP fans will find it worthwhile to give this CD a spin as well.

As one can surmise from the title, this band has been formed by Roby Deaton (keyboards, guitars) and Craig LeMay (drums, percussion), who then brought in singer Hadi Kiani and guitarists Ehsan Imani, Joel Gregoire and Josh Mark Raj to complete the recording line-up. They say they were inspired to produce exciting progressive rock by the likes of Rick Wakeman and Keith Emerson, but this has much more in common with Nineties-style American prog than what was around in the Seventies. This shines through in the instrumental "Tri-Overture" which contains some wonderfully tight sections and time signature changes, with the only issue being that it is way too short! Putting that to one side, one of the delights here is that while the music is based around Roby and Craig, they allow the guitarists to shine by providing some blistering solos on top.

Although we do get plenty of instrumental passages, there are also times when Hadi is allowed to take centre stage, and rightfully so as he has a wonderful voice. They often straddle the boundaries between progressive rock and melodic rock, almost like a modern-day Kansas (without the violin), with drums providing a powerful melodic element as well as rhythmic. "The Past" is a fine example of a band being able to provide the right amount of edge to the sugar, so that while it may at points seem like it is going to veer too far away, we then get a blistering instrumental passage with guitars, keyboards and drums all combining to provide incredible excitement. This certainly never sounds like a debut album, as there is a confidence and passion throughout which makes this an American neo-prog release which really stands out. I note this was released in 2019, so I can only hope that it means there will be another to follow soon, as this is a superb introduction to the guys.