The Departure
Gateways EP
(Self-Release)
This five-piece band from Salt Lake City, UT consists of Ryan DeBlanc (vocals, guitar), Gavin Allein (drums), Aidan McDonald (guitar), Max Hedding (bass) and Dylan Proesch (keyboard, vocals). Their EP features mixture of pop punk, metal, and a touch of progressive on these seven songs.
The band plays tight, hard and in your face, but you can hear subtle things that take you by surprise, like the keyboard in “Incompetence” that has that prog rock touch adding to the songs. You get the mixture of clean, smooth vocals mixed with gruff, screamed vocals that you don’t expect, but even though I prefer the clean vocals the screaming works in moderation. “Gateways” really mixes up the music with the piano cutting through the storm and giving you a different feel to the heaviness. “The Sea Part II” has a lot of prog rock in it and then you get some scream mixed with the heavy rock, a very interesting song. My favorite track is “Lonely Eyes” which is a slower paced acoustic song that really is different and has great guitar playing and heartfelt vocals.
The album shows that The Departure has talent, energy and many tricks in their bag, which makes for a great listen. This isn’t a band that treads in place; they are reaching for new heights and sounds to incorporate into their music, giving the listener something with depth.
