Versa – A Voyage / A Destination | Progressive Rock Central.com

Versa is a Victoria, British Columbia, Canadian progressive rock band. They released, on Friday, March 6, 2026. a magnificent progressive rock double – album, with the devotion to quality you might expect from legendary and seminal bands like Yes and the Moody Blues. The two-album composition is named, “A Voyage / A Destination!” It is a “Special Edition,” and it was released independently.

The year 2026 is the 20^th Anniversary for Versa. And they chose this moment in time, to re-present their double-album project as a special edition. And thankfully they did. “A Voyage / A Destination,” is a wonderful example of the majesty this band can compose and perform. Album 2 was chosen on many best of the year list when it was originally released. Album 1 was chosen by the online music magazine Loudwire, as one of the best albums of the 2020s (so far).

Bringing the project together, as was originally envisioned, is a treat for progressive rock fans and all Versa fans around the world.

The band Versa was formed in 2006, by a group of friends, that met at the University of Victoria School of Music, in Canada, that includes: Matthew Dolmage, who plays concert and alto flutes, electric and acoustic guitars, piano, and sings lead and backing vocals; Hollas Longton, who plays violin; Benjamin Rancourt, who plays electric and acoustic guitars; Anthony Theocharis, who plays bass guitar; Jesse Bell, who plays drums and percussion; and Janelle Wrona, who plays piano and keyboards.

The album also features a lineup of well-known international progressive rock performers, including members of Caligula’s Horse, Big Big Train, Haken, Wobbler, The Neal Morse Band, Spock’s Beard, and Moon Letters.

Versa released an animated music video for the sci-fi epic “Artemis,” featuring guest performances from Michael Trew (Moon Letters) and Sam Vallen (Caligula’s Horse), on March 20,2026.

Other musicians appearing on the album include:

Ryan Cole – Trumpet (1, 3, 4)
Laine Longton – Cello (1, 3, 4)
Eric Gillette – Lead guitar and lead vocals
Lars Frederik Frøislie: Hammond organ

Nick D’Virgilio: Chromatic percussion
Jeremy Tardif: Piano and vocals

Jim Grey: Lead and choral vocals
Marjana Semkina: Lead Vocals

Part I of this epic journey begins with the song, “Pool of Naiads,”(which is a female spirit, or nymph, presiding over fountains, wells, springs, streams, brooks and other bodies of fresh water.” I became familiar with Naiads on Wobbler’s “Naiad Dreams,” off their 2020 album, “Dwellers of the Deep.” An it is fitting that the man who played the keyboards on that song, Lars Frederik Frøislie, from Wobbler, plays Hammond organ on this song. Eric Gillette sings warm and soft vocals throughout this mystical journey into the world of fantasy and folk fable. The soft acoustic guitar and later Hammond organ from Lars Frederik Frøislie make this one of the best songs of the collection. Memories take me back to Wobbler’s magnificent journey, as Lars plays. But this is Versa’s song and they deserve the recognition for it. Heavier electric guitar fills the soundscape as the story’s culmination nears a peak. Bells and keyboards softy bring us back with slow played violin and cello. This song is a wonderful beginning for this excellent double-album set. Every moment is a dancing melody of mystic wonder.

“Sea of Vapors,” opens with soft acoustic guitar, strings, flute, and orchestration. It is another wonderland of beautiful progressive rock, which this world and the progressive rock genre needs so badly. The violin and strings build a golden melody that lifts the soundscape into Yes’ level realms. The flute and electric guitar playing also help augment this wonderful soundscape and provide a visual presence along with the violin that must be experienced and cannot be fully described in full.

“Lantern Season,” is a beautiful and emotional time of year in Canada. There are various events to celebrate the time, spanning late summer through winter. The highlights including, “The Water Lantern Festival in Toronto and Vancouver (late summer), Montreal’s Gardens of Light (autumn), and the Winter Solstice Lantern Festival in Vancouver (December). They offer magical and illuminating experiences, as the summer’s light fades into fall and winter’s extended darkness, throughout the Northern Hemisphere. This song is a wonderful instrumental tribute to that time of year complete with horns, electric guitar, bass, drum, and keyboards.

Then, the true “Voyage,” of this album begins. Jim Grey and Marjana Semkina trade off lead vocal talents as the soundscape builds with orchestration, strings, keyboards, and percussion. The duet helps tell the story and guide the sound through these early moments well. They sing, “Return to the ocean. Set sail. We sailed for another land. Over the horizon. We sailed to conquer God and Man!” Then, the quiet stirs as the ship moves out to sea. Bells chime and the soundscape begins to get louder as the ship moves further into the open ocean. Drums, brass, soft electric guitar, bass, and ever-increasing nervous drums begin to amp up the soundscape. Choirs join in to add epic depth and fear to the ever-increasing seas. Horns, heavier drums, bass, keyboards, and electric guitar build a mighty soundscape, just like a swelling ocean. The drumming reaches powerful heights, then the seas subside as beautiful piano and an electric guitar buzz take over the soundscape. Wonderful, precisely picked electric guitar, like the kind you hear from experts like Steve Hackett fill the air, along with piano; as heavy drums are replaced with keyboards, violin, and electric guitars. Beautiful, Mediterranean-like guitar sounds fill the air as the journey moves on. Like the kind I remember from Steve Hackett’s “Under a Mediterranean Sky,” album. Some wonderful soft plucking on an acoustic guitar joins the fray, like a glimpse from “In the Court of the Crimson King.” Thank you for that memory. An orchestra of stringed instruments takes over to fill the soundscape like a flock of wandering seagulls. Another wonderful moment of musical bliss. Beautiful piano and the duet of singers takes us out of this dynamic ocean voyage and journey.

“Prelude,” is another of my favorite songs on these two albums. It is a bold piano solo that just rivets your ears to its wonderful melody. An over one-minute prelude to part two of this magical opus, of an album.

When I saw the title, but had not heard the song “Breaking and Entering,” I thought this could be a take – off on a Genesis favorite, “Robbery, Assault, and Battery? “ Well, no, it’s is not even close. It is a beautiful acoustic and electric guitar melody, with accompanying horns and violins. Another fair-weather song for relaxing or sitting on the Inner Harbour walls of Victoria’s waterfront and watching the pickle boats perform a synchronized water ballet. I know that is a local thing, but we all have Google to look it up, if you are really interested.

“The Seething Bay,” is another wonderful piano song, with accompanying strings and orchestration. It is one of those relaxing pearls of sound that make living near the Salish Sea so wonderful. You can feel the influence of the beautiful Pacific waters that surround Victoria and Vancouver Island throughout this album. Every violin and string note is perfectly weaved into the soundscape to deliver spine tingling effects. “Seething Bay,” not sure about that. Every time I’ve been to the Inner Harbor it has been filled with glorious sunshine and calm water. But, then again, I rarely venture to Victoria during winter…

“Flew the Coop,” is full of vocals from Ross Jennings. It is a mournful song about summer’s fleeting visit to this area of the country, full of trumpet, violin, soft drums, electric guitar, and keyboards. Another warm and relaxing song, for a summer day.

“Lake of Luxury,” opens with profound piano and soft keyboards and drums. Then, the violin takes over the soundscape like a invincible electric guitar. A beautiful melody ensues as this instrumental lifts the soundscape and the tenor of the album. The electric guitar solo is topped off well with a brilliant trumpet solo. So much diversity and beauty throughout this album. The violin and strings ride high with the trumpet on this grandiose soundscape.

“Bury Me at Sea,” opens with the echo of a female vocal, like a sea siren. This song is a sad tribute to all those people that want to be buried at sea. It is full of wonderful acoustic guitar, violin, and set to a relaxing melody, with soft trumpet accompaniment.

“Lake of Dreams,” is full of dawn – like opening orchestration, before electric guitar sets the pace, with bass, and soft drums. The piano playing is superb, as is all the piano playing on this album. Flutes sound and ladies sing vocal incantations. A dreamy and enchanting song of mystery. Perhaps they are talking about Thetis Lake, which does look very mysterious and full of wonder, with its island, Anastasiias Island in the middle.

“Ocean of Storms,” is another wonderful and mysterious piano solo, complete with keyboard orchestration and piano. Eerie in nature, but wonderful to hear those sharp and deep piano notes.

“Mare Lamentorum,” may refer to the “Sea of Laments,” in the game ”Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker.” It is a playable zone located on the moon, part of the “Sea of Stars” region. A beautiful piano solo over two minutes long that will keep you listening intently to each note that is played. Like the Moon, it is still and eerie in its presence.

“Artemis,” seems written for the recent Moon mission to circle the Darkside of the Moon in 2026. However, this song is full of imagination beyond the current trip many of us are witnessing on TV and in pictures on the Web. This song features the wonderful vocals of Michael Trew, the best progressive rock singer west of the Rockies. The song opens with a choir introducing the mission and idea behind this journey. Violins, electric guitar, bass, and drums build an ascending soundscape to capture Michael’s open vocals. Michael fits right in with this music as if it was Moon Letters’s style. The electric guitar playing is full of dynamic innovations. The drumming keeps up, as strings, violin, flute, horns, and cello are added. The melody reminds me a little of Edensong’s “On the Road to Dust,” at times. A nice reminder, indeed. The violin, electric guitar and synthesizers are immense and full of life. Horns and cellos, with bass sounds fill the air as the soundscape slows momentarily in the middle. Then, and almost “In the Court of the Crimson King,” like moment ensues, with Michael Trew describing the scene they find with huge animals, like alien dinosaurs full of dread. The pitch and melancholy melody build to a climax. Then, suddenly Michael sings, “I come to in a sterile white medic’s bay. No one answers as I call out. My voice echoes down corridors a screen blinking alive.” Julia Dolmage joins Michael singing, “Alive and safe commander, everything is fine. All your friends your shipmates for safety have been confined.” Michael sings, “Ship’s AI tells me all are in quarantine. I was first sick, now first awake. So why don’t I feel placated? Something’s gone very wrong.” Julia sings, “Wrong, commander you’ve got it wrong, there’s no need to hide. All your friends your coworkers, I promise they haven’t died.” Then, the melody slows down as the song reaches for its ending. The beautiful flute playing with backing strings are wonderful. Michael sings the epic closing, “Arriving back now in orbit gazing on familiar land. Leaving all the stars behind me and upon the Earth. I’ll stand, Artemis set us down, feel gravity’s pull again. Rest your weary wings on land. The sun the moon the heavens up above us. No longer are the stage on which I play. I’ll be embraced by earthly things turn my back on the stars. I found no bliss in Artemis.” An over 17-minute symphony of space exploration.

“Destination,” opens as another wonderful piano solo, with violin, strings, and trumpet saluting. The final vocals bid us farewell as the story comes to conclusion, “Have we reached our destination, the end of everything we’ve seen? Is this our final destination, the sum of everything we’ve been? Now we’ve reached our destination, the end of everything we’ve been. We’ll set off for new explorations, sailing on the endless dream.”

Versa’s “A Voyage / A Destination,” will probably be one of my favorite progressive rock albums of 2026. This one should be high on my list of progressive rock albums of the year. This is the kind of work, passion, and composition we all remember from the late 1960s and early 1970s. The dynamic and lyrical stories that filled our thoughts as kids to look beyond the many horizons we encountered. It is the kind of production, engineering, and full composition preparation we expected from some of our seminal favorites. Versa is at that level of music, and I admire them for reaching out to try to achieve that pinnacle. The album also reminds me of the sound of another Northwest band, Cirrus Bay, that I reviewed back in the early part of this century. That Buckley, Washington band was full of whimsical and creative music just like this. Another band that this music reminds me of is Art in America, from Detroit, Michigan. Both of those bands reached for perfection on each of their albums, and I do believe Versa did the same with this immense voyage. This is a treasure to appreciate for the rest of the year. And to celebrate, at the end of this year!

The artwork for “A Voyage ? A Destination,” was created by Amy Winter. Mel Barton, on the other hand, created the artwork for the part II of the album. Concepts and layout were completed by Matthew Dolmage, with the assistance of Steffany Hunter. The Versa ambigram logo was created by Lane Longton. Recording of “A Voyage / A Destination,” was engineered, and produced by Matthew Dolmage from May 2021 to June 2024 at Talisman Studios in Victoria, BC, with assistance from Benjamin Rancourt and Jesse Bell.

Album Track Lists:

Part I – CD 1