Impermanence by Dominic Sanderson

Impermanence,  Dominic Sanderson's first album, was released in 2023.

We discussed this artist in the post dedicated to his most recent album, the splendid  Blazing Revelations, released in 2025.

This is his first beautiful album, with which he announced himself to the world as the new representative of a young generation of musicians who have decided to try their hand at Progressive Rock. I believe he's doing so admirably, revitalizing rather than destroying the legacy of the past.

This 21st-century prog is obviously and rightly influenced by the past—we're talking about influences like Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Yes, Marillion, but also Anglagard, Antekdoten, and Porcupine Tree—but never to the point of explicitly citing them, but rather drawing on their sensations, traditions, and atmospheres to create something new and different.

This is a beautiful album, featuring both epic tracks and acoustic ballads, along with modern sounds that serve a truly excellent seventies sound. The guitars, both acoustic and electric, feature beautiful solos, while flute, keyboards, and piano, sometimes in unison, create a sound reminiscent of Gong and even, at times, Magma. There are some Yes-style vocal accents, epic closing moments, and electric rides with dissonant sounds, guitar plucking, drums that are always precise and in tune, never intrusive. A beautifully crafted electric prog, light sections of acoustic guitar, vocals, and strings make the songs seem suspended in mid-air, where the voice is used as an instrument, spelling out syllables while the choirs and keyboards create melodies upon which the other instruments, including more or less electronic percussion, intervene, as in "A False Sense of Promise," a beautiful song in this vein.

Great use of piano and acoustic guitar, which in my opinion further enhance the album. After six excellent tracks, there's also a beautiful suite, which is the album's highlight in my opinion. It's 19 minutes long, with its synth choirs, joined after about two minutes by the imposing church organ and vocals. The opening, over three minutes in, is beautiful, with distorted guitar and beautiful syncopated tempos, a beautiful underlying composition, and great creativity and precision in the execution. A sort of distillation of various styles into a single piece, the Genesis-esque keyboards enrich the piece at one point, and there's also a viola pizziacato (I think) and very acoustic drums with their muffled sounds. A beautiful piece dominated by different atmospheres and always effective in all its phases, even the softer ones with the trembling flute or the more melodic ones, or with the percussion, or when the guitar takes a solo and the music becomes more choral and emotional at the end.

There are references, but only as memories of emotions already felt, because with great originality in his compositions, Dominic Sanderson gives us his own atmospheres and emotions, which are truly intense. I feel I can support this young musician of about 25 who is making prog his stylistic signature.

Highly recommended album!

Tracklist
1. I Don't Think I Can Get over This After All (3:44)
2. The Twisted Hand of Fate (5:09)
3. This Night and the Wounds It Will Bring (4:43)
4. Is There Calm Amongst This Chaos? (6:12)
5. An Empty Room (3:15)
6. A False Sense of Promise (4:51)
7. Like Shards of Glass Falling Through My Fingers (19:51)
Running Time 47:45

Lineup
- Dominic Sanderson - electric and acoustic guitar, vocals, Mellotron
Featuring:
- Tristan Apperley - bass, Hammond organ, Mellotron, synthesizers, keyboards, violin, viola
- Jacob Hackett - drums, congas, percussion, backing vocals
- Aaron Butterworth - cello, Mellotron
- Tyler Swindley - piano
- Joshua Joyner - synthesizers
- Dan Ratcliffe - violin
- Abi Clark - flute
- Beatrice Overend - baritone saxophone