| Musical Style: Progressive Rock | Produced By: |
| Record Label: Roxx Records | Country Of Origin: USA |
| Year Released: 2025 | Artist Website: Undoubting Thomas |
| Tracks: 9 | Rating: 85% |
| Running Time: 62:57 |
Technically proficient and giving prominence to lengthy songwriting, integral to time and tempo changes and lyrically conceptually based, the Roxx Records July of 2025 Undoubting Thomas debut full length In The Process Of… is a progressive rock record through and through. Undoubting Thomas is the project of vocalist and multi-instrumentalist Thomas McKeown, whom got his start as part of Chicago, Illinois progressive art rock band Damascus, which released a series of highly acclaimed custom cassette demos during the eighties and early nineties. Musically, In The Process Of… picks up where Damascus leaves off with a sound fans of Genesis, Porcupine Tree and Kansas will be able to identify, keeping in mind recent contemporaries EchoVerse, Ariel, PJ Bostic and Cosmic Cathedral deserve equal consideration. Neal Morse also comes to mind in light of epic based song structuring in which individual songs break down into multiple parts.
Speaking of which, In The Process Of… is Morse-like as a concept album with a theme that explores the tension between faith, suffering and doubt while asking the following questions:
• Is God still good when everything is falling apart?
• Is there meaning in our suffering?
These themes echo throughout by offering solace to listeners navigating grief, depression, or deconstruction- while still reaching toward hope’ (as noted in the artists press material).
As for the Undoubting Thomas name, albums liner notes provide further detail:
‘Undoubting Thomas is not Thomas who has no doubt. It is the slow process of changing from doubting to undoubting. In this case ‘undoubting’ is a verb; an action being taken; to endeavor to doubt less’.
In The Process Of… begins to classical influenced instrumental “Overture”. At six minutes, it ripples its first half to grand piano, delicate guitar harmonies and artists refined guitar soloing only to pick up pace over the second in heavier rocking fashion as guitar makes a further pronounced statement. Impression is uplifting, inspired and lighthearted.
Eight and half minute follow up cut “The Mirror” breaks down into three parts. First “Monster Or Man” highlights a Kansas like feel, as a blithesome weaving of classical keyboards, grand piano and Hammond B3 join with artists soulful middle register vocal qualities. Second “See Me” comes across in form of a haunting piano ballad to see portent harmonies and haunting melody hold sway, while third “All Is Lost” rocks heavily as galvanic rhythm guitar punches to the forefront to touch upon the provoking. Lyric snippet:
I’ve been looking in the mirror every chance I can
But when I start to turn away now
I can’t remember who I am
I feel Like an actor playing my part on every stage
But no one knows who I really am
When the lights begin to fade
Oh, see me, reach me, change me
Oh, free me, heal me, save me
“Any Wonder” ensues as a six and half minute ballad. First three minutes are temperate and serene to see gentle keyboards and placid bass interfuse for a create Beatlesque feel. Final three finds tempo narrowly accelerating for a fusion filled instrumental run in which keyboards and guitar contest, with the heightened mindset attentively flowing to the end.
At three and half minutes, ”Love And Life” is albums shortest and heaviest. The hard rocking guitars launching the song mirthfully align with groove tinged underpinnings and periodic piano, the restless temperament upheld for the instrumental passage to see McKeown unveil his bluesy soloing. This one backs from the albums innate progressiveness but proves no less able. Lyric snippet:
I’ve been thinking ‘bout love and life
Is something there in my darkest night?
Am I alone or is someone near
Must be the former cuz that’s what I fear
Am I the master of every thought?
I can’t remember just what I’ve been taught
He is the author of love and life
He can bring light to my darkest, darkest night
“My Silence” is another shorter piece at four minutes. It also rocks heavily, as tangible rhythm guitar and cognizant bass serve to affirm the larger than life (almost Shadow Gallery inspired) melody. There is an almost melodic hard rock meets AOR vibe going on. Lyric snippet:
My silence fed the enemy
He drew strength from the things I did not say
My Lord, my God, teach me to pray
In this prison I am captive
Chains forged by my own hands
Still I don’t understand
AOR tincturing carries over to ”Save Me”. Lushly done vocal melodies and buoyant harmonies bring a seventies classic rock feel, emanating of the heartening as artist again impresses with the moving feel to his vocal delivery. Likewise, his bluesy guitar leads are warmly tinctured.
Back to progressive rock with nine minute and five part “Dark Waters”. “Blackness” gets things going as a basic but not simplistic piano ballad, while “Take It Back” ensues with an upraised keyboard and gutsy bass configuring. “Down, Down, Down”, taking the melancholic flavorings to the next level realized in an easy going ‘Floydian’ melody, gives way to “Midnight Of My Life”, another calmer piano based track entwined with forthcoming vocal melodies. Closing things is “Dark Waters”, elevated with its out-front organ and fusion filled rock guitar instrumental lead in but unguarded in terms of its lone verse articulating of the disquiet. Lyric snippet:
I find myself in dark waters
I find myself in blackness all alone
No friendly face hides in these shadows
Only despair and regret that no one knows
If I could take it back, would it change your mind?
Or has fate set every stone
And I’m simply wasting time
I find keyboard ballad “Something Beautiful” albums least remarkable. Not that it is inherently bad, but at six-minutes, it is unnecessarily protracted, and when further factoring the plentitude of similar musical moments throughout the album, it equates to a potentially tiresome situation. Point being it is fine on a stand-alone basis but wears thin collectively.
Album closes to five-part thirteen and half minute epic “ Another World”. Part one classic rock opener “How Long?” instrumentally starts to upbeat Hammond B3 only to slow to a crawl for its jazzy bass driven verse sections and equally amicable refrain. Succeeding is “Round And Round”, an assertive instrumental taking a heavy rocking guitar direction, and “Running And Hiding”, a return to slower and dreamy subtleties as piano and echoing vocal melodies hold sway. “A Distant Battle” revisits a hard rock instrumental contour innate to spirited guitar and orchestral keyboards, while “Another World (Reprise)” closes the magnum opus by repeating the lush “How Long?” refrain. Lyric snippet:
I can tell that I’m not fit for any other place
People walk around me
They don’t want to know my face
How long will I go on?
In a silent movie that needs a hopeful song
And love
What is high will be low
What is hidden will be seen
The Son of Man walked among us
The Son of Man will return
The previous year has been fantastic for progressive rock fans, referencing top releases from EchoVerse (Whispers Between Worlds), Ariel (Two Voices Strong), PJ Bostic (Hope In The Winter Stage) and Cosmic Cathedral (Deep Water).
Undoubting Thomas debut In The Process Of… is musically of similar level. If a fan of progressive music then the album represents an immediate purchase in light of its not just adept songwriting and choice musicianship but also Biblical conceptual themes.
Review by Andrew Rockwell
Track Listing: “Overture” (6:08), “The Mirror” (8:41), “Any Wonder” (6:40), “Love And Life” (3:04), “My Silence” (4:13), “Save Me” (5:24), “Dark Waters” (9:03), “Something Beautiful” (5:58), “Another World” (13:42)
Musicians
Thomas McKeown - Lead Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Piano, Organ, Synth & Percussion
Additional Musicians
Patrick Culligan - Drums
Heather Humphrey - Choir Vocals
Gary Jacklin - Violin & Viola
