THE WISDOM TREE - A Day Without a Yesterday

THE WISDOM TREE

Album: A Day Without a Yesterday

Genre: Instrumental Progmetal

Release Date: November 15th, 2023

Country: USA

Label: Self-Released

Band Links: WEBSITE / BANDCAMP / INSTAGRAM / FACEBOOK

A few months ago, during a phone call with a dear friend, I was joking about the weird adverts showing up on particular social media platforms. Spooky coincidence or not, things changed just a few days later (at least on one outlet), and since then, I mostly saw band ads, which now also brought to light this wonderful gem. THE WISDOM TREE is an instrumental Progmetal trio from South Carolina, formed by Universal Mind Project guitarist Michael Alexander, keyboard player Roberto Macri (MaYan), as well as drummer Michele Sanna (Sunstorm), and they just released their debut album “ A day without a yesterday” on November 15th, 2023.

Opening with some whirling guitar runs that soon get company by the powerful drumming, beautiful orchestral arrangements and some sax in between, they quickly caught my attention, and latest when the keyboards join the wild "Spirals" dance, I'm already sold. Yet there are still six amazing songs to come, that all tell stories in their own, lyricless way.

"Untethered Soul" is a calmer piece with atmospheric soundscapes, on which the guitar lays its soaring melody lines. The following title track comes along groovy, reminds me a bit of Long Distance Calling at the beginning, but then goes further with more changes regarding the song's composition.

"Paradigm Shift" starts darker in mood and heavier in style, offering some great variations within the guitar - keyboard dialogue. For "Beautiful Destruction", they lift up the tempo again to deliver more instrumental wizardry, yet skillfully weave in some chilled interludes. Towards the end, the music invites the listener to drift away for a moment with the mesmerizing "Samsara", and closes with the dreamy "Ethereal Heart".

All-together, "A Day Without a Yesterday" easily lines up into the already impressive number of amazing debuts this year, and I'm happy to have stumbled across this trio by chance. THE WISDOM TREE convince with their mix of virtuosic playfulness, emotion and lightness in their performance, as well as their varied, fluent compositions. Only the guitar and keyboard tone is a bit squeaky on the highest notes sometimes, but considering the otherwise well-balanced production, this is complaining on a high level. So if you're into instrumental prog with some jazzy and classical influences, give them a spin :-)

Written by Katha