August in the Urals is the debut release from Deluge Grander, a new progressive rock band from Baltimore, Maryland. The group formed from the ashes of Cerebus Effect as an avenue for Dan Britton and Patrick Gaffney to develop and record new material that Britton had been composing. The addition of Dave Berggren and Brett d’Anon (on guitar and bass respectively) completed the line-up, and Brett d’ Anon’s presence provided an opening for his uncle, Frank d’Anon, to add some additional instrumentation throughout this release.

With no song under 7 minutes in length, the musicians have ample opportunity to develop phrases and sections without fear of rushing things. From an instrumentation standpoint, August in the Urals leans most heavily toward traditional symphonic progressive rock, with a range of keyboard tones (piano, analogue and digital lead tones, organ, mellotron) providing a foundation for Deluge Grander’s extended song suites. Brett d’Anon’s bass cuts through the mix with surgical precision; his bass tone is at once trebly yet powerful, with just the right amount of fuzz and overdrive to make its presence known. Unfortunately, the thickly orchestrated mix often overpowers Dan Britton’s vocals; add in the lack of lyrics in the packaging, and it becomes occasionally difficult to follow the songs lyrically.

The album’s packaging is nice, with good annotation on who played what on each piece, as well as production information. A series of paintings “illustrate” each of the tracks on the release, in lieu of lyrics (on pieces which feature them). While the inclusion of specially created artwork is a nice touch, it is still a shame lyrics were not included. Finally, the album was recorded in a number of home studios, and while it was “mixed and semi-mastered at a professional studio,” the limitations of home recording sound quality do occasionally rear their head. The sporadic rough bits actually do add a bit of charm to the proceedings, keeping the album from sounding too glossy, and perhaps providing a bit of vintage-ness to the release as a whole. August in the Urals is an impressive debut effort, and may be one of the top symphonic prog albums of 2006.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2007 Volume 1 at lulu.com/strangesound.