Prog News, Press Releases - Days Between Stations-New Album "In Extremis"

Although, Days Between Stations 'In Extremis' in some ways retains the dark somber mood of the group's first album (released to great acclaim in 2007), in other ways the music is completely different. Says Sepand, “There are four clear distinctions between the two albums. The first, is that we are five years older. Which means we have grown as players and have higher expectations of ourselves. The second, which is most noticeable is that we have vocals (with lyrics) on this album. The debut album provides landscapes and layers of sound that allow the imagination to run free. One negative aspect of having vocals is that the mind mainly focuses on the rhythm and lyrical content and often times constrains the music. We wanted a healthy marriage between the two. Even so, there are several instrumental tracks on this album, one in particular is 'Blackfoot'.” Oscar continues, “It wasn't really a conscious decision to add vocals to this one – I mean vocals with lyrics. It's just how the writing went. Sometimes a song tells you what it needs. So that's different. Also, the album is more thoroughly composed or let's say it's more structurally thought out. Although Sepand and I entirely wrote the music, the lyrics were written collaboratively with Billy Sherwood, who was invaluable in bringing more focus to the whole theme, and who in some cases took the idea in a different direction.”

Sepand concludes, “I feel the third difference on the new album is the extensive use of classical and exotic instruments; a full orchestra was employed on the first track, 'No Cause For Alarm', an instrumental overture that weaves together many of the main themes from the album. While the track 'Waltz In E Minor' is performed by a string quartet, the full orchestra returns (along with an unexpected Barbershop quartet) on the closer, 'In Extremis', a 21-plus minute multi-part epic that also features founding YES guitarist Peter Banks. Additionally, a Persian lute called a Tar is featured on the track 'Eggshell Man', a song that also features a blistering Moog solo from YES maestro Rick Wakeman. In fact, on 'Eggshell Man' Rick Wakeman, Billy Sherwood and Peter Banks play together. This brings me to my final point; when all these legends came together to contribute on this album, we developed a certain obsession to be at our best. Sadly Peter Banks passed away during the making of 'In Extremis', making these recordings even more meaningful and special to us.”

And here's the album's first review by Nick DeRiso:

http://somethingelsereviews.com/author/nderiso/" rel="nofollow -

In a strange and beautiful coincidence, Days Between Stations was working on an album about birth, life and death with Peter Banks in the time just http://somethingelsereviews.com/2013/03/12/original-yes-guitarist-peter-banks-1947-2013-an-appreciation/" rel="nofollow - before Yes’ co-founding guitarist passed . But the truth is, In Extremis would have been a triumph, anyway — and a curt rebuke to those who say the best days of progressive rock are behind it.

Working primarily again in an instrumental format, keyboardist Oscar Fuentes and guitarist Sepand Samzadeh (who founded Days Between Stations in 2003) paint a stirring, deeply impactful narrative, using broad musical strokes that connect across prog, ambient and orchestral traditions. The results are, at times, memorably beautiful, at others unbearably sad — like a life lived fully.

The difference between In Extremis (to be available for pre-order beginning on April 23, 2013) and Days Between Stations’ well-received 2007 debut is a greater focus on lyrical content, courtesy of a writing and vocal assist from guest Billy Sherwood. That serves to ground the emotional In Extremis within the tangible world of love and loss. A http://somethingelsereviews.com/2011/10/12/something-else-interview-billy-sherwood-formerly-of-yes/" rel="nofollow - member of Yes in the 1990s , Sherwood makes a dramatic first appearance, after the album’s lengthy instrumental introduction, with “Visionary” — which also features a layered, virtuoso performance on the stick by Tony Levin, http://somethingelsereviews.com/2011/09/21/something-else-interview-rock-bassist-tony-levin/" rel="nofollow - the do-anything performer who has worked with Peter Gabriel, Paul Simon, King Crimson and John Lennon, among countless others.

Days Between Stations, named after Steve Erickson’s cult novel, expands to include Sherwood’s fellow Yes alumni Rick Wakeman and Banks, on “Eggshell Man” — a song whose brilliantly twilit chorus of “so alone, so alone” is offset by a sweetly plangent lute. Meanwhile, former http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/08/13/one-track-mind-colin-moulding-rick-wakeman-and-billy-sherwood-check-point-karma-2012/" rel="nofollow - XTC stalwart Colin Moulding is featured on the hooky “The Man Who Died Two Times,” an utterly addictive pop-prog moment that rivals anything issued by Genesis, the Moody Blues or Yes in their 1980s hitmaking period.

The album’s heart-breaking emotional centerpoint, though, is its multi-suite title track, which expands to more than 21 minutes behind some of the final musical statements from Banks, a deeply underrated early progressive-rock architect. He recaptures, across this stirring track, everything promised on Days Between Station’s thrillingly old-school cover — created by Paul Whitehead, who earlier handled the artwork for http://somethingelsereviews.com/2012/12/26/something-else-interview-genesis-co-founder-anthony-phillips/" rel="nofollow - Genesis’ Trespass, Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot projects.