Pic: Luke Machin (Guest), Sean Timms, Dan Mash, Marek Arnold, Brody Green (Guest), Guy Manning (Seated)
A third DAMANEK album “Making Shore”, is being recorded for a planned 2020 release. This is the working title for it…and as the first two releases ‘ON TRACK’ and ‘IN FLIGHT’ both implied movement and travel (by Rail and Air) in their names, I was leaning to a more Sea/Water-centric title this time (2 words again…isn’t branding wonderful)
This new set of material sees us once more return to ecological concerns/issues and of course from a narrative empathetic POV, placing the listener in the heart of the story…naturally.
80 odd minutes of initial demos have been written with some quite diverse themes
Here are some working track names and ideas behind them:
1. A Mountain of Sky (about the solitude and aloofness of Mount Everest) 2. A Crown of Thorns (about the decline of the Great Barrier Reef) 3. Back2Back (looks at the concern around Global arising from over population) 4. Reflections on Copper (a observation on the debilitation brought through Dementia) 5. In Deep Blue [Sea Songs Part One] (a tale of personal fear overcome!…) 6. Noon Day Candles (an appeal to the World Stage about child hunger and a belief that each and every voice makes a difference in addressing the issue) 7. Self-Composed (an introspective personal look at my own song writing) 8. Americana (narrates the impact of Climate change on a fictional US farm)
9. Oculus – this is an epic, Gothic tale dealing with the perils of inter-dimensional travel … it is a bit involved, but the story will unfold!!!
Marek, Dan, Sean & I will be returning once again with a supporting cast of superb musicians, some you already know, some new, some well known…have I made that intriguing?
So, no live dates planned as yet, but we looking ahead to 2021 now to get some things booked in.
Related Updates: Meantime, please check out the latest album by Cyril called “The Way Through” (Cyril is one of Marek’s projects for which I provided the concept story line and the lyrics). It has got some great reviews. Also check out the the new Seven Steps to the Green Door album, “The Lie”.
Maschine have been recording their third album and so Dan (and Luke Machin) will no doubt be publishing details all about it plus news of their Autumn UK tour with District 87 (look out for details on these dates on Social media).
Work has also started on the third Southern Empire album, the follow up to the fantastically well received “Civilisation” – watch out for news on that too from down under.
So that’s it for now. Please visit the Damanek web site, add some comments to the Guest book and keep up to date with all things Damanek on the Damanek Facebook page. We love to hear from you, chat, answer questions etc.
More news soon, when things have progressed.
Btw, I will be this years UK Summers End festival if you are about to day Hi!
are nearly there! It’s this month! So a quick pre-tour reminder for you….thank you
GEP Presents “Damanek and Southern Empire ‘Civilisation In Flight’ tour of the U.K. and Europe November/December 2018”
In November 2018, internationally renowned progressive rock bands Damanek and Southern Empire will join forces and embark upon their debut tour of the United Kingdom and Europe.
Damanek, featuring members from three different nations, is the brainchild of visionary multi-instrumentalist/singer-songwriter Guy Manning. The group released their debut album ‘On Track’ in early 2017 to critical acclaim appearing in many ‘Best album of 2017’ polls.
The follow-up album ‘In Flight’ has now just been released through GEP Records to great critical acclaim once again!
Guy Manning, commenting on the upcoming album and tour stated, “Since we played that memorable set at Summers End X Festival in 2016, I have been constantly asked ‘When are you going to play live again?’ and I have always had to say “…as soon as we can”…but now I can say “SOON!” The new album “In Flight” is ready and out in time for the tour and it has some fantastic new pieces on it, which we are keen to perform live along with some of the favorites from ‘On Track’. Should be one hell of a show!”
Southern Empire, hailing from Adelaide, South Australia will also release their second album mid-year through GEP.
Led by composer, producer, keyboardist Sean Timms, Southern Empire was formed from the ashes of symphonic prog. band Unitopia in 2014 and have quickly established themselves as one of the premiere live and studio acts of the current prog. era.
“It’s always extremely exciting to release a new album and then take those songs on the road.
I think we have a very strong set of new songs to complement the older material and we’re really looking forward to bringing our unique blend of ‘prog ’n’ roll’ (as Danny Lopresto, our lead vocalist calls it) to our friends and fans in the U.K. and Europe.” – Sean Timms.
For the European leg of the tour, Damanek and Southern Empire will be joined by special guests & friends Seven Steps to the Green Door who will open the shows.
“It’s great to be back on stage with Damanek, 2 years after our first set at Summers End festival and promoting a brand new album. For the European dates of the tour, my mates in “Seven Steps to the Green Door” will join in for a triple bill of great songs from all the current albums and from our forthcoming new album THE?LIE, which will be released in 2019! – Marek Arnold.
Damanek, Southern Empire and Seven Steps to the Green Door
Wed 21/11/18 – Bergkeller, Reichenbach, Germany.
Thu 22/11/18 – Spirit of 66, Verviers, Belgium.
Sat 24/11/18 – De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands.
Damanek and Southern Empire
Tue 27/11/18 – The Victoria, Swindon, U.K.
Wed 28/11/18 – The Joiners, Southampton, U.K.
Thu 29/11/18 – The Robin 2, Bilston, U.K.
Fri 30/11/18 – Boston Music Room, Tufnell Park, London, U.K.
Sat 01/12/18 – Classic Rock Society (CRS), Maltby, U.K.
Please note: As joint headliners on the tour, Southern Empire and Damanek will be alternating and mixing up the final slot of each night to allow both bands a chance to play slightly extended sets… however, we are not telling who / when!
We are so excited about this new album which is somewhat darker than “On Track” and features a three part epic suite called “Big Eastern”.
1. Ragusa
2. Skyboat
3. The Crawler
4. Moon-Catcher (Heaven Song Pt.2)
5. The Crossing
6. Big Eastern (Part One – Cruel Skies)
7. Big Eastern (Part Two – The Shaking Earth)
8. Big Eastern (Part Three – A Life in Chinatown)
Guy Manning, Sean Timms, Marek Arnold, Dan Mash
with our guests Luke Machin, Brody Green, Antonio Vittozzi, Tzan Niko, Raf Azaria, DavidB, Julie King, Kev Currie & the Gospo Collective and Jones Commentary choir.
Music & Lyrics Guy Manning
Mix & Production: Sean Timms
The album is described as “Dark and Dense, Intense and Immense…. ”
The Damanek Web site will be updated as the album is released with pages for each song, the lyrics, the players plus some insights into what the piece is about and background information.
GEP Presents “Damanek and Southern Empire ‘In Flight’ tour of the U.K. and Europe November/December 2018”
In November 2018, internationally renowned progressive rock bands Damanek and Southern Empire will join forces and embark upon their debut tour of the United Kingdom and Europe.
Damanek, featuring members from three different nations, is the brainchild of visionary multi-instrumentalist / singer-songwriter Guy Manning. The group released their debut album ‘On Track’ in early 2017 to critical acclaim appearing in many ‘Best album of 2017’ polls and will release their follow-up album ‘In Flight’ on the 5th October this year through GEP Records.
Guy Manning, commenting on the upcoming album and tour stated, “Since we played that memorable set at Summers End X Festival in 2016, I have been constantly asked ‘When are you going to play live again?’ and I have always had to say “…as soon as we can”…but now I can say “SOON!” The new album “In Flight” will be ready for the tour and it has some fantastic new pieces on it, which we are keen to perform live along with some of the favorites from ‘On Track’. Should be one hell of a show!”
Southern Empire, hailing from Adelaide, South Australia have just released their second album “Civilisation” through GEP.
We are happy to report that it is getting some fantastic reviews in its first few weeks!
Led by composer / producer / keyboardist Sean Timms, Southern Empire was formed from the ashes of symphonic prog. band Unitopia in 2014 and have quickly established themselves as one of the premiere live and studio acts of the current prog. era.
“It’s always extremely exciting to release a new album and then take those songs on the road. I think we have a very strong set of new songs to compliment the older material and we’re really looking forward to bringing our unique blend of ‘prog ’n’ roll’ (as Danny Lopresto, our lead vocalist calls it) to our friends and fans in the U.K. and Europe.” – Sean Timms.
For the European leg of the tour, Damanek and Southern Empire will be joined by special guests / friends Seven Steps to the Green Door.
“It’s great to be back on stage with Damanek 2 years after our first set at Summers End festival and promoting a brand new album. For the European dates of the tour, my mates in “Seven Steps to the Green Door” will join in for a triple bill of great songs from all the current albums and from our forthcoming new album THE?LIE, which will be released right in time for the tour! – Marek Arnold.
17/11/18 – HRH PROG Festival, Pwllheli, North Wales.
Damanek, Southern Empire and our Special guests, Seven Steps to the Green Door
Wed 21/11/18 – Bergkeller, Reichenbach, Germany.
Thu 22/11/18 – Spirit of 66, Verviers, Belgium.
Sat 24/11/18 – De Boerderij, Zoetermeer, The Netherlands.
Damanek and Southern Empire
Tue 27/11/18 – The Vic, Swindon, U.K.
Wed 28/11/18 – The Joiners, Southampton, U.K.
Thu 29/11/18 – The Robin 2, Bilston, U.K.
Fri 30/11/18 – Boston Music Room, Tufnell Park, London, U.K.
Sat 01/12/18 – Classic Rock Society (CRS), Maltby, U.K.
Please note: As joint headliners on the tour, Southern Empire and Damanek will be alternating and mixing up the final slot of each night to allow both bands a chance to play slightly extended sets…however we are not telling who / when!
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