{"id":12917,"date":"2024-11-23T14:31:48","date_gmt":"2024-11-23T19:31:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/?p=12917"},"modified":"2024-11-23T14:31:48","modified_gmt":"2024-11-23T19:31:48","slug":"review-damascus-the-road-to-damascus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/heavensmetalmagazine.com\/index.php\/2024\/11\/23\/review-damascus-the-road-to-damascus\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Damascus – The Road to Damascus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n

From Haze to Damascus<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Damascus was a Christ-centric progressive rock band from the \u201880\u2019s, contemporaries with AD, Kerry Livgren, Arkangel and largely the brainchild of the multi-instrumentalist\/singer Tom McKeown (Shadowfields<\/a>). The band\u2019s inception (early \u201880\u2019s) was inspired by a car accident involving McKeown and his then band Haze, an incident McKeown later acknowledged changed the course of his life forever. With the change to a life in Christ, McKeown formed a new band with a new vision \u2013 from (the) Haze was born Damascus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damascus Prog <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Consequently, influenced by his childhood musical heroes (Kansas, Genesis, Yes, ELP and later Saga), Damascus would move in a musical direction which was not popular amidst the budding Christian rock\/AOR scene \u2013 progressive rock. Along with his previous band\u2019s bass player Cliff Zweibruck, McKeown would later be rejoined by Marc Reich (guitars\/vocals) after he returned from college and even later by drummer David Coy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Musically, where Trytan was the \u201880\u2019s Christian Rush-infused prog juggernaut, Damascus was the scene\u2019s Kansas\/Yes (heavy keyboard emphasis) infused prog rock dynamo. Hence, the music was much more instrumentally focused than most \u201cGospel\u201d rock acts at the time were either recording or for which they were awarded airplay. Therefore, neither their 1983 self-titled EP nor any of their 3 full-length albums were previously released in formats other than self-financed cassette.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tide Turned<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately, their final release, due to the collapse of the band in the early \u201890\u2019s, was never released. Fast forward to 2024 and the folks at Roxx Records<\/a> (Bill Bafford) have lovingly \u2013 with the help of McKeown \u2013 put together this excellent anthology of the entire Damascus works, including the 9 tracks which comprised the never-before released album The Turning Tide<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Damascus Unchained<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This 2 CD set is chock full of surprisingly well-recorded progressive \u201clight\u201d rock. A mix of early Kansas and early Yes is a good place to start, although as Damascus moved into the early 90\u2019s their sound did change somewhat along with the shifting musical trends of the time. One thing which was consistent throughout, though, was the uplifting lyrical praise and adoration for the redeemed life in Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n
\n