It’s cool to be able to see bands grow and evolve into something that can stand tall with other acts out there. Drowning Steps has been at it for about a decade, and their new album The Bravery of a Tireless Mind is a rock solid, truly expressive work. It released on October 2nd.
Drowning Steps comes to us from Brazil. This band started as a solo project but became primarily a duo. The lineup here is Caio Claro on vocals and guitars, and Fabricio Mendonça on drums. They bring with them Leonardo Gonçalves on bass, Marcos Duran on guitar, and Tiago Pierucci on keys, synth, organ, piano, wah-wah guitar, and backing vocals. You will also hear Robin Peachey of Returned to the Earth, Laís Gonzalez, and Erlend Viken from Soup and Giant Sky on guest vocals.
The music here is a blend of modern progressive rock sounds. So, you will hear the melodic sensibilities of Riverside, the instrumental prowess of Porcupine Tree, and the expressive nature of Muse. But you’ll also hear a bit of older prog rock from the 70s, too. And the band stamps its own identity through insightful lyrics, emotional delivery, and a masterful merger of strong influences. I particularly find the vocals to be wonderful, and there are plenty of flowing, luxurious instrumental passages that threaten to sweep you away.
The album has only five tracks but lasts almost 40 minutes. The opener is the main focus, featuring Robin on guest vocals, “The Angels and the Playground” gives a sense of the human condition pretty quickly. I love how expressive the vocal performance is on this song, how steely and expansive the winding instrumentals are. I’ll be honest and say this is my least favorite song on the album, though, mainly because of the half-rap vocal portions, but those don’t last long. Overall, it’s a great “epic” to get things rolling.
“Fragments of a Lifetime” and “The Nod” come next, and they are the singles. I love them both. The former feels incredibly nostalgic, almost like listening to the catchiest songs on an old Porcupine Tree album, or maybe even a Steven Wilson solo track—it offers a really attractive main melody that is simply gushing. It features Laís on vocals, and I love the interplay between the performances.
“The Nod” is my favorite song overall. It features Erlend of Soup on guest vocals, and it is equal parts melodic river and lumbering rock beast. I love the synth, piercing and powerful, and just how layered this beautiful song is. It has such tender shades of personality and shadow and color.
The last two tracks are both great. “Waiting for Redemption” has a smooth and emotive character, or that’s how I remember it abstractly in my mind. When I listen again, it actually has quite a bit of grit and edge, and actually gets somewhat heavy at the end. The closer is “Life Handed Me a Map”. It’s only three minutes long, but I absolutely adore it. It’s something like a ballad, and it gushes with storytelling vibes and beautifully melodic phrasing. This album is technically only “Book One”, and feels both final and like there will be a sequel. It’s a catchy track to end things.
Drowning Steps keeps rising little by little. I feel like prog rock fans should pay attention, especially if they love the newer generations of prog rock bands. There is much to love for fans of the genre, but the album also feels quite personal, strongly in-character, deeply sensitive. The results are beautiful and vivid, and they deserve your attention.
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