P R O V I D E N C E Winnipeg prog rock trio releases debut album

 

"...clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what's true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness."

-Carl Sagan, The Demon-Haunted World:  Science as a Candle in the Dark, 1995

Winnipeg proggers PROVIDENCE have released their debut album on Sonic Disruption Research records.  The double length concept album is true to the classic form of progressive rock style and tradition.  PROVIDENCE brings something new to the progressive rock scene in Manitoba in that they created an album fully in the pure prog rock style, rather than progressive metal.  PROVIDENCE has been hiding in the shadows of the Winnipeg music scene for years. Everything about this band is unconventional, perhaps as a direct result of remaining outside the mainstream and off the radar in the  Manitoba music community.   

The Demon Haunted World is a concept album echoing the cautionary message Carl Sagan wrote in his book entitled "The Demon-Haunted World".  The album tells the tale of the rise of the human species, creating art, music, and using science to develop technology.  Eventually, science takes a backseat to pseudoscience and superstition, leading to the downfall and ultimate about face to a neo-Dark Ages.  

Preferring to play in select venues for maximum production value, Providence has carried this philosophy over into the studio, with an ambitious debut album finally realized here.  The band quips, "This album is the direct result of leaving three nerdy introverts in a studio with too much gear and time on their hands."  

The album was composed, produced, engineered, and mastered by Providence at Studio Irrenhaus, in Winnipeg.  Defying contemporary procedure, no click tracks or auto-tune was used.  "Click tracks tend to mechanize a recording and they effectively remove a measurable amount of energy that you would normally only experience in a live situation", says drummer Ben Rusch.

Ben Rusch - Drums, percussion, synthetic percussion

Bob Ellis - Bass, keyboards, vocals

Basil Ganglia - Guitars, mandolin, keyboards, percussion, vocals

Available online through CDBaby, Spotify, Apple Music, and Bandcamp.   CD digipack copies can be purchased at McNally Booksellers Grant Park, Sunrise Records Polo Park, and St. Vital Mall, and at Into The Music.