Tag: Damascus

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Damascus – Soon… The Doors Will Open

Damascus
Soon… The Doors Will Open
1988 (no label)
Mount Prospect, Illinois, USA

Thomas McKeown – Vocals, keyboards, guitars
Marc Reich- Vocals, guitars
Cliff Zweibruck – Bass
David Cox – Drums, percussion

Side 1:

  1. Decisions
  2. Psalm Ad
  3. An Angel
  4. Reckless

Side 2:

  1. Lead Me On
  2. Blind Peace
  3. Something to Live For
  4. Still Waters
  5. Waves

This is the fourth and final demo by Damascus. Probably their tightest and most well-written demo of the four. The progressive rock and pomp rock are still here, with maybe a tad bit more shine. Fans of slightly more mainstream prog rock will probably enjoy this. The interesting thing about this demo is that it has more songs than any past demo, but all three songs from their first demo are re-recorded here. This includes what is probably one of their most metal-ish songs “Reckless.” It sounds even better here with improved production.

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Damascus – Timeless

Damascus
Timeless
1987 (no label)
Mount Prospect, Illinois, USA

Cliff Ziebruck – Bass guitar
Dave Coy – Drums and percussion
Tom McKeown – Lead and background vocals, all keyboards, guitar on “The Keeper”
Marc Reich – Lead and background vocals, guitar

Side 1:

  1. Time for a Season
  2. What Four?
  3. A Knight to Remember

Side 2:

  1. Timeless
  2. Lord of the Mountain
  3. The Keeper

Damascus returns for their third demo. The progressive rock and pomp are all continued on this album. This demo rarely reaches the “heavy metal” stage, except maybe on songs like “The Keeper.” But it is still tightly played and well written progressive rock. Probably the best of three that I have heard so far (including their 1983 demo and 1984’s Will I Find You There?). Of course, three years have passed since their last demo, so thankfully they did progress. Three years after this, they released Soon… The Doors Will Open and then called it a day.

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Damascus – Demo

Damascus
Demo
1983(?) (no label)
Mt. Prospect, Illinois, USA

Possible band members:

Tom McKeown – Lead & background vocals, electric guitar, organ, piano, synthesizers
Marc Reich – Lead & background vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
Cliff Zweibruck – Electric bass, background vocals
Dave Coy – Drums, percussion

  1. Lead Me On
  2. Psalm Ad
  3. Reckless

This is the first demo by progressive/rock/metal band Damascus. There is little information on this demo, but I did find a lot of information about the band when transferring their next demo Will I Find You There? This demo starts off a bit deceptively – it seems a lot more mellow than the next demo, and not progressive rock at all. But pretty soon the progressive elements kick in. By the second song, there is no doubt what they are. Not as heavy as their next demo, but probably a tad more progressive. They also compared themselves to Van Halen or Bon Jovi on their next demo, but there is not much influence of those bands on this demo. No date or band members are listed. Possible band members based on the next demo are listed above, and a possible release date of 1983 is given based on an online interview that states they became Damascus in 1982 and then later recorded a demo.

Missing Information: Band members, release date

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Damascus – Will I Find You There?

Damascus
Will I Find You There?
1984 (no label)
Mt. Prospect, Illinois, USA

Dave Coy – Drums, percussion
Tom McKeown – Lead & background vocals, electric guitar, organ, piano, synthesizers
Marc Reich – Lead & background vocals, electric & acoustic guitars
Cliff Zweibruck – Electric bass, background vocals

Side 1:

  1. Will I Find You There?
  2. Truth
  3. A Father’s Only Son
  4. His Love Today

Side 2:

  1. Circle of God’s Love
  2. The Lost Prayer

Not sure exactly how to categorize this one – it is definitely hard rock, but there seems to be many progressive rock influences as well. Just not blatant Rush rip-offs, so they must have been influenced by one of those other non-Rush progressive rock bands I have heard rumors of. What a novel concept :). Actually, this is also firmly planted in early 80s classic rock – which I can recognize easily, but I am not fluent enough to know which bands are which. They described themselves as “progressive art metal” in an online interview  and then went on to compare their sound to Van Halen or Bon Jovi. They apparently have a demo before this one called Damascus I, and at least two more after this one (Timeless in 1987 and Soon… The Doors Will Open in 1990). Oh, and they were mentioned in Billboard magazine once.