Dreaming Madmen "Ashes of a Diary"

Hello again fellow progheads and thank you for making the return trip to The Closet Concert Arena!  The world may be in lock down, but the prog garden continues to bring forth new, intriguing, and exceptional music from a plethora of artists.  This week the search for all things prog traveled from Austin, TX to Lebanon and back again, checking out the intricate sounds of Dreaming Madmen and their debut album, "Ashes of a Diary."

"Ashes of a Diary" was released in September; a concept album dealing with raw human emotion.  Anyone who has read my blog knows this journey is right in my wheelhouse.  Before dropping laser to disc I get a sense that the canvas will be filled with all the colors of the emotional rainbow.  I think it's headphones time...

Starting right in with the opening cut, "Page One." The delicate rise of emotion fills my head space with a deliberate slowness.  The guitar methodically creeps into the corners of your mind and all at once a darkness as tangible as cobwebs in the attic wraps itself around your consciousness.  There are strong top notes of Pink Floyd running rampant throughout while aromatics of Dream Theater float on top like Angostura Bitters on a glass of scotch; not for the faint of heart...

Trepidation mixed with nervous giddiness fills the spirit as I wander down the album and discover "Enigma."  The band is  toying with me again...a dark solitude gets interrupted by strong guitar work lifted up by heavy drum work.  Dreaming Madmen hammer you with pulled punches; the keyboards ride a wave through the entire piece to cushion the blows.  True to the song's title, this song is an enigma...floating in between worlds that are combative and protective.  You feel a pull from both sides of the emotional spectrum as you fall into the abyss...

Liner Notes...Lebanese American brothers Mathew and Christopher Aboujaoude  are originally from Deir El Harf, Lebanon, but also call Austin, TX home.  Dreaming Madmen is comprised mainly of said brothers; Mathew handles guitars, keyboards, synthesizers while Christopher has bass and keyboard solos on select cuts nailed down, and the duo shares vocal duties.  Filling out the band on their debut release is Ian Geyer on drums and percussion, Rohan Sharma playing lead synthesizers on select cuts, and Caelin Tralongo laying down the vocals for the song, "Your Possesor."

You can learn more about Dreaming Madmen at their website DreamingMadmen and Facebook.
To dig a bit deeper, tag them on Twitter@DreamingMadmen.  And of course you can purchase the band's music at bandcamp and applemusic.

My final song for review this week is "Your Possessor."  Sounds come slowly from the darkness, rising gently as they caress your mind.  Delicate vocals are entwined with guitar that penetrates your spirit while drums give the song a driving force that cuts through that emotional curtain between heart and head.

Dreaming Madmen bring human frailty to the forefront with this album without condemning the main character of the story.  The lens through which a man's life is viewed is a kaleidoscope of human emotion...sadness for what might have been; regret for moments both lived and lost; love, anger, fear, and perhaps the most human emotion of all--jealousy.  Mathew and Christopher take the listener on a roller coaster that runs the gambit of emotion ultimately ending where it began...the heart of a humble man.

Listen to the clip below, "Behind My Wall" and you will get a sense of how deep Dreaming Madmen are able to go.  The music fills the canvas with such an array of mood and emotion you will find yourself challenged to keep up.  There are top notes of Porcupine Tree and Nad Sylvan running through the veins of this song...and just when you think the journey is through, you find yourself once more falling into that intoxicating abyss...


                     

There you go my fellow progheads, another amazing debut for the Closet Concert Arena.  Dreaming Madmen venture inside your mind in order to find the path to your soul.  The music is deep and rich; mesmerizing you could say.  Plunging into the spirit of a life lived--who doesn't wrestle with the "what ifs" life manages to throw at you?

The search for all things prog continues to roam the prog garden, hoping to find more music like this...captivating, emotional, and overflowing with the sorrow and joy that makes us all human.  So the journey continues...until next time...