Goto www.progressiveears.com for full review.
"...Truth Be Told represents a polished collection of ten rock songs with their roots in both classic rock and more contemporary alternative rock styles. There are still definite nods to the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Incubus, and there is also that slight proggy influence that was apparent on Shards but which was hardly “in your face”. The same is true here: no epics, nothing over five-and-a-half minutes in fact, and no mellotron solos or wildly off-kilter time-signature changes. But this can be described as mainstream rock with a proggy edge, in the same way that you might apply that tag to the work of Kino, Spock’s Beard, The Police, Incubus, Always Almost and Peter Gabriel. At times I also think there’s an overlap between the music on this album and some of Porcupine Tree’s recent shorter and heavier songs.
The proggy edge here comes not from the more clichéd and unsubtle elements found in the work of neo-prog bands, but from Deep Rising’s song arrangements, vocal harmonies, occasional use of keyboards, and from their instrumental work-outs that offer up interesting twists and turns in what might otherwise be quite straightforward tracks (one classic example of this can be heard on the excellent instrumental section of the track “Nothing Means Nothing”, another example comes near the end of the album opener “Sirens”, and there’s a particularly beautiful and very proggy sounding example on “Hides Inside”)...
...This time the band have wisely chosen to feature less songs and the songwriting has gone up that extra level, which means that there’s less what might be described as filler material and at 44 minutes the album is pretty much of a perfect length.
As with Shards this album features a mixture of hard rocking numbers (e.g. “Sirens”, “X”, “Nothing Means Nothing”, and “Cheater”) and some quieter songs (e.g. “Hides Inside”, “Inside You”, “Xel-Ha” and “Rebecca”) but in keeping with the generally improved songwriting on offer on Truth Be Told, even the up tempo heavy numbers that sounded a little formulaic on Shards are much more impressive here. There’s a new dimension and an added maturity to the band’s songwriting and it seems as though they’ve been experimenting a bit more with variations in tempo, timbre, and mood. Only the track “Cheater” comes across as a little bit simplistic and unsophisticated, both musically and lyrically, when compared to the rest of the album, but even this track has a certain naive charm to it...
...Overall this album turned out to be a wonderful surprise because although I greatly enjoyed Shards there were clearly areas where it was lacking. With Truth Be Told it’s as though they took every one of my criticisms onboard (though I’m sure I had nothing whatsoever to do with this it’s nice to think that I did!) because this is an improvement on almost every level. The strengths of the Shards album (particularly the songwriting) are still apparent but I think they’ve been improved upon, whilst the weaker elements (the formulaic nature of some of the songs and the occasionally strained vocals) are virtually absent this time around. It’s still true to say that this won’t appeal to all (prog) rock fans, for some will expect something a little more musically adventurous, but of its type you won’t find many better albums in 2007.
Best tracks: “So Frustrated”, “X”, “Hides Inside”, “Nothing Means Nothing”, “Inside You”.
Reply
Deep Rising / Blog
Deep Rising is now on Twitter
Deep Rising is now on Twitter. "Follow" to us for instant updates on shows, song postings, etc. We won't be using it to tell you what we are eating for lunch every day or anything like that. Just important info for fans who want to know right away. So go ahead, follow us! Our profile is at www.twitter.com/deeprisingrocks
Reply
Excerpt from CD Review of "Truth Be Told"
Goto www.progressiveears.com for full review.
"...Truth Be Told represents a polished collection of ten rock songs with their roots in both classic rock and more contemporary alternative rock styles. There are still definite nods to the likes of Stone Temple Pilots and Incubus, and there is also that slight proggy influence that was apparent on Shards but which was hardly “in your face”. The same is true here: no epics, nothing over five-and-a-half minutes in fact, and no mellotron solos or wildly off-kilter time-signature changes. But this can be described as mainstream rock with a proggy edge, in the same way that you might apply that tag to the work of Kino, Spock’s Beard, The Police, Incubus, Always Almost and Peter Gabriel. At times I also think there’s an overlap between the music on this album and some of Porcupine Tree’s recent shorter and heavier songs.
The proggy edge here comes not from the more clichéd and unsubtle elements found in the work of neo-prog bands, but from Deep Rising’s song arrangements, vocal harmonies, occasional use of keyboards, and from their instrumental work-outs that offer up interesting twists and turns in what might otherwise be quite straightforward tracks (one classic example of this can be heard on the excellent instrumental section of the track “Nothing Means Nothing”, another example comes near the end of the album opener “Sirens”, and there’s a particularly beautiful and very proggy sounding example on “Hides Inside”)...
...This time the band have wisely chosen to feature less songs and the songwriting has gone up that extra level, which means that there’s less what might be described as filler material and at 44 minutes the album is pretty much of a perfect length.
As with Shards this album features a mixture of hard rocking numbers (e.g. “Sirens”, “X”, “Nothing Means Nothing”, and “Cheater”) and some quieter songs (e.g. “Hides Inside”, “Inside You”, “Xel-Ha” and “Rebecca”) but in keeping with the generally improved songwriting on offer on Truth Be Told, even the up tempo heavy numbers that sounded a little formulaic on Shards are much more impressive here. There’s a new dimension and an added maturity to the band’s songwriting and it seems as though they’ve been experimenting a bit more with variations in tempo, timbre, and mood. Only the track “Cheater” comes across as a little bit simplistic and unsophisticated, both musically and lyrically, when compared to the rest of the album, but even this track has a certain naive charm to it...
...Overall this album turned out to be a wonderful surprise because although I greatly enjoyed Shards there were clearly areas where it was lacking. With Truth Be Told it’s as though they took every one of my criticisms onboard (though I’m sure I had nothing whatsoever to do with this it’s nice to think that I did!) because this is an improvement on almost every level. The strengths of the Shards album (particularly the songwriting) are still apparent but I think they’ve been improved upon, whilst the weaker elements (the formulaic nature of some of the songs and the occasionally strained vocals) are virtually absent this time around. It’s still true to say that this won’t appeal to all (prog) rock fans, for some will expect something a little more musically adventurous, but of its type you won’t find many better albums in 2007.
Best tracks: “So Frustrated”, “X”, “Hides Inside”, “Nothing Means Nothing”, “Inside You”.
Reply
"Truth Be Told" Among WUSB Radio's Ten Most Played Local CDs
Stony Brook University's WUSB Radio Station has been giving our CD "Truth Be Told" significant airplay, tied for 3rd most played in January 2008. In fact, this is not the first month the CD has been among the 10 most played local CDs on WUSB. We're excited about the support we've gotten from the great DJs at WUSB, and are very honored by the response!
Check out WUSB @ 90.1 FM on Long Island, NY or on the web at wusb.fm
Reply
"Truth Be Told" Ranked 9th Best Album of 2007!
This is the 3rd Top Ten Albums of 2007 ranking for "Truth Be Told", and this one comes from a reviewer for The Progressive Ear. The fellow goes by the name Eppy, and you may have read the wonderful things he had to say about "Truth Be Told" in his CD review for The Progressive Ear in 2007. Eppy has released his Top Ten Albums of 2007 and TBT was ranked 9th of 2007. You can (and should) listen to his Podcast for a taste of some really great music that you may not otherwise be exposed to. Here's the link: http://www.epilepticgibbon.co.uk
Deep Rising is very honored to be held in such high regard by Eppy, and we are grateful to count him among our many fantastic supporters!
Reply
Another Top Ten Honor for Deep Rising's "Truth Be Told"...
Underdog Prog is a fantastic internet radio show hosted by Mary Campbell on The Dividing Line Broadcast Network. Mary has been a supporter of Deep Rising's for a while now, and she has named her Top Ten albums of 2007, placing Deep Rising's "Truth Be Told" at #10. Other bands in the list include major artists such as Rush, Radiohead, & Porcupine Tree, so we feel very honored to have made Mary's list. Thanks for your continued support, Mary!
Reply
"Truth Be Told" in Top Ten...
Deep Rising's latest album, "Truth Be Told", has been named among the Top Ten Local Albums of 2007 by WSBU D.J. Rich Hughes (who's fav song from it is "Sirens"). Thanks, Rich!
Reply
Review of "Truth Be Told" CD
From Goodtimes Magazine (12/07), written by Bob Smith
More Long Island, more rock - but this time with a youthful, emotional kick. The trio Deep Rising blasts out of the gates on this 1-track album with the gorgeous "Sirens", featuring a star-in-the-making vocal performance by Nick Kerzner. This is an intelligent-sounding modern rock act - and thank goodness for that, because they are as talented as they are righteously rocking.
Only the occasional passage belies the fact this pristine recording is an indie project; the sound is nearly major league ready, so big-time kudos to Garagetop Studio, as well as to the outstanding mastering job by John Vestman and Vestman Mastering. This band certainly seems ready for its shot at stardom as well; adeptly buoyed by drummer Peter Smith and guitarist/bassist Glenn Burgos, Kerzner and company merge their tight yet raw instrumental prowess with lyrics that are actually about something, and deliver it all neatly, with a ton of alternately meaty or crunchy hooks. No six pages of self-serving "Thank Yous" to everyone who ever sold them a pick or stick, no beating around the bush. The liner notes tell you the songs, offer a photo, and it's off to the races. It's the type of album you listen to and completely forget it's a local project - yes, it is THAT good.
There's so much to recommend; the soaring hooks and harmonies of "X"; the Leslie-sounding guitars on "Cheater"; the sheer perfection of the opening track. Kerzner, instead of relying on cornball vocal cliches and rock posturing, simply sings everything beautifully, from angry shouts to romantic croons - and seemingly without the slightest bit of effort. Truth Be Told, this is one of the best area releases of 2007.
Reply
Deep Rising Featured in Mitch Gallagher's new book on Mastering
Mitch Gallagher's latest book, Mastering Music at Home is a fantastic book for learning how to properly master music at home. For the book he interviewed some of the experts in the field, including the guy who mastered our "Truth Be Told" album, John Vestman. John used his "separations mastering" technique on our album, and that technique was the focus of John's contributions to the book.
Mitch's book includes a CD-ROM with example music files for reference and to experiment with. John Vestman graciously requested permission from us to offer our song "Nothing Means Nothing" for inclusion in Mitch's book. We gladly agreed to the idea.
The CD-ROM includes not only the before mastering and after mastering versions of our song, but also includes before and after versions of the separation tracks (what are those? get the book and learn!). This means that when you buy that book, you get to play mastering engineer with Deep Rising's unmastered tracks for "Nothing Means Nothing"! Pretty cool, huh?
Many thanks to John Vestman, who has mastered thousands of recordings, including some from Sting, for selecting our song from all those at his disposal to recommend to Mitch for his book.
Many thanks to Mitch Gallagher for taking John's recommendation and for the kind words! Your book Rocks, Mitch!
Reply
Last Friday Night's Show on Long Island...
We had another great show last night. We got the audience super fired up, which in turn fired us up amounting to a fantastic show for all! Plus, we shared the bill with some great artists whom we enjoyed listening to as well. We made some new fans and sold some CDs. It was indeed a good time!
Reply
Deep Rising - We7.com Top Ten Artist!
We've just been informed by the We7.com folks that Deep Rising is among the Top Ten Artists on the We7.com site.
For those unfamiliar with it, We7.com is the Free Music Download Service started by PETER GABRIEL (yeah, THE one and only) and others recently. Independent artists have to submit each of their songs to a screening process for their music to be accepted into the We7.com catalog. Deep Rising's songs from our new CD "Truth Be Told" were so well received that the entire CD was accepted. Additionally, our earlier CD "Shards" was requested by We7.com and added to their catalog.
We are proud to be featured on We7.com and are especially proud to have been so well received there.
Reply