It takes a lot of time to make quality music and it’s understandable but frustrating to have to wait a few years for a new release from your favourite band to be delivered into your cranium. That’s the beauty with a damn fine debut, all the joy of hearing an amazing set of tunes yet as you didn’t know they were coming nor the band they were coming on before their release then you haven’t had to suffer the wait, hurrah! What started as a recording project between Jack Davenport and Kaung-Myat Aye in 2015 has evolved with the addition of drummer Jamie Black and vocalist Oliver Wardell into a superb collection of prog rock and metal ditties that you had no idea you needed until now!

Epitome of Progress is the debut EP from Desiign, comprised of four main tracks which despite running under twenty minutes, are packed full of ideas and a variety of styles! A short interlude piece plays out before the first track ‘Clarity’, the EP’s lead single begins with a softly sung intro with accompanying guitar gives in to a funky rhythm and a building guitar as the song begins in earnest. This lengthier track, as with follower ‘Diverse’ sound like a beautiful blend of early Riverside, Caligulas Horse and Maschine and will appeal to fans of them all. A blend of soft passages, heavier rhythmical sections and well crafted melodies which will be sticking with you for days…hell, weeks and months even!

The latter two tracks on the release are the shorter ‘Caldera’ and ‘Light’, the former of which kicks off with a heavy groove before breaking down halfway into a more melodic driven piece reminiscent of more recent Tesseract releases whilst the latter has a more ‘indie’ feel to it. For such a small release the variety of the bands styles is a great showcase for them.

Overall this is a superb release and for a debut even more impressive! Musically the band have crafted some beautiful songs with plenty of variety of style presented with wonderful musicianship and vocally Oliver Wardells voice reminds me of Paul Draper of Mansun and its fantastically suited to the showcase of tunes on the EP!

Now the bad bit…Goddamn you Desiign for adding to the list of bands I am now frustratingly awaiting new material from! At least in the meantime can you please get down to London so I can see this performed live?!

You can check out and get your own copy of Desiign’s Epitome of Progress right here: https://desiign.bandcamp.com/releases and I suggest you do so now!