Many of us of a certain age will return time and again to the classic bands of the seventies which fired our imagination in our youth, and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But of course, they aren’t going to be around forever, and it’s vital that younger talent is encouraged when it appears. Occasionally that talent looks very promising indeed, for example Ryan Stevenson and his band Zopp, which takes the Canterbury bands as an inspiration and then brings his own personality to bear and comes up with something new and exciting. Well, Dominic Sanderson is doing something similar, but taking his inspiration from Van der Graaf Generator and King Crimson. There’s no denying the references, but as with Ryan, Dominic goes from that starting point and moulds it into something all his own, and the results are startlingly good.
Dominic is only 25, and has gathered together a young hugely talented band. Well, mostly young, but we’ll come to that later! Blazing Revelations is the name of the new album, and straight out of the gates, opening track From The Weeping Cradle has the band in frantic form, a swirling clavinet dancing and a strange discordant guitar riff eventually give way to a more straightforward riff, drums and bass driving forward with urgency, and flute adding a more melodic edge, all riding over some classy mellotron work. As the instrumental introductory part of the piece develops, each band member is given a chance to shine. Dominic plays some very fast exciting guitar runs, there is super keyboard work on a variety of instruments from Embiye Adali, while Tristan Apperley on bass locks in with Jacob Hackett on drums, providing an organic sounding rhythm section. That leaves the other key member, Andy Frizell on saxes and flute. His contributions are particularly important, giving the splashes of colour to what might be a rather dense soundscape at times, and providing that sense of controlled chaos where required. When the vocals kick in, a further nod to Peter Hammill becomes apparent, not only in the delivery, but the compositional style. This opening piece shifts through many moods, from whimsy to angst, and all points in between, and is pretty complex, but it hangs together remarkably well.
Faithless Folly begins in a more mellow and nimble mood, lighter in touch with perhaps a nod to the Canterbury bands, but the band soon warm things up. Sanderson writes some unusual melodies, his vocal style sometimes soft and sweet, then passion spilling out; sometimes singing, then lines of spoken word. He employs whatever serves the song, and it’s compulsive listening. As the piece develops it gets more and more intense, with passages of jazzy madness, Frizell let loose, rather like a reimagining of the chaotic moments in 21st Century Schizoid Man. After every mad moment though, there is a section of relative calm, flute and slide or acoustic guitar changing the mood completely.
A Rite of Wrongs brings us some respite from the intensity, an acoustic based shorter piece, folk tinged with wonderful dancing flute, and sterling violin work from Tristan Apperley. It’s an engaging and atmospheric track to soothe the soul before we strap in again for the closing epic (there had to be a closing epic, right?), and although it starts gently with acoustic guitar and mellotron, it gradually gets more portentous before erupting once more into a full on prog workout. It’s called Lullaby for a Broken Dream, and we are on a journey on which the vistas keep changing, moving from light to shade, heavy to light, melodic to plain weird. There are enough ideas packed in to this piece to make a whole album for many bands, and the listener has to keep their wits about them. It could have ended up a bit overbearing, but it actually works. Some of the symphonic sections are just so classy, building the tension and excitement through so many twists and turns. It’s kind of exhausting, but powerful, and ultimately, hugely rewarding. The closing two or three minutes where Sanderson solos over lush mellotron and dancing flute before the fade out is just gorgeous.
Even without taking Dominic’s age, and that of his band into account, this is a great album, and having seen them live at Fusion 6 last week, I can confirm that they can play it all live without any problem at all. Oh, and chatting to Andy Frizell afterwards, he confirmed that he had been Dominic’s music teacher, so he’s the only one who isn’t ludicrously young! With talent like this, the future of progressive rock looks rosy, and Dominic Sanderson will go far, there’s no doubt about that. He and his band are only going to get better. I’ve never been more optimistic for the future of adventurous music, and I urge you to give them a listen and have your own blazing revelation.
TRACK LISTING
01. From The Weeping Cradle (12:00)
02. Faithless Folly (10:27)
03. A Rite Of Wrongs (6:19)
04. Lullaby For A Broken Dream (16:17)
Total Time – 45:03
MUSICIANS
Dominic Sanderson – Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Vocals, Mellotron
Jacob Hackett – Drums, Percussion
Tristan Apperley – Bass, Violin
Embiye Adali – Mellotron, Hammond Organ, Clavinet, Fender Rhodes, Piano
Andy Frizell – Alto, Tenor & Baritone Saxophones, Flute
~ With:
Joshua Joyner – Percussion
Massimo Pieretti – Piano
ADDITIONAL INFO
Record Label: Independent
Country of Origin: UK
Date of Release: 28th February 2025
LINKS
Dominic Sanderson – Website | Facebook | Bandcamp | YouTube | Instagram
