Artiste: Anima Mundi
Nationality: Cuban
Album: The Lamplighter
Year: 2013
Label: Self-released
Genre: Progressive Rock/Symphonic Rock
Tracks:
Suite: The Lamplighter
On Earth beneath the stars
The call and farewell song
Light the lantern of your heart
The human house
Suite: Tales from endless star
The dream child behind the mask
The return Part 1
Endless star
The return part 2
His majesty love
Chronological position: Fourth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Nice and laidback, pastoral with a shot of space rock thrown in
Best track(s): Everything except
His majesty love
Worst track(s): As above, but, you know, the other way round...
Comments: We've been doing really well recently, with four and even five-cookie ratings, so you would think we'd be on to a winner with not only a prog album, but a symphonic prog album. This is in fact the first I have experienced of any music from that troublesome little bastion of Communism down the toe-end of America, so at least it promises to be interesting. In a move that would be odd for any band other than a prog rock one, this album is divided into two suites of four tracks, with one tacked on at the end, under the subheading “Epilogue”. The first suite is simply called “The Lamplighter”, and there's certainly a nice pastoral beginning to the opener, with some soft keys and synth, then the vocal (in English, thank God!) is clear and rich, sounds like it could be a harp in the background there. There's a kind of Yes sentimentality to the song, a short one to kick off with, just over four minutes. Guitar punches in now and the vocals get kind of Genesisesque. Very impressive start. Things get a bit harder and more raw with the second track, “The call and farewell song”, with tough guitar and those trumpeting fanfare keyboards that Urban hates so much. It breaks down then into an acoustic guitar passage, some lovely flute opening “Light the lantern of your heart” (shut up) and then a soaring guitar with a pulsing bassline leading into thunderous, rolling percussion and a powerful organ (I said, shut up) with the vocal floating above this musical soundscape.
“The human house” is the final movement of this suite and is mostly instrumental, with a bitchin' guitar solo and the reprise more or less for “Light the lantern of your heart”. The second suite, called “Tales from endless star”, opens on “The dream child behind the mask”, with a kind of droney synth then a Beatlesesque flute type melody, drifting slowly like a feather in a gentle updraft. Gets quite dramatic in the later parts, with what sounds like orchestra but is I think just very good work on the keys. Superb guitar solo followed by powerful dark keys and choral vocals; definitely my favourite so far, though there's nothing here I don't like.
But then there's the harpischord and pan pipes(?) excellence of “The Return Part 1”, with some great acoustic guitar and more strings-style synth, just lovely, an instrumental which ushers us into the epic, ten-minute “Endless star”, screeching droning synth and feedback laying down the groundwork before the guitar just takes the tune by the scruff, and we're now four minutes in and no vocals, though I doubt even these guys would pen a ten-minute instrumental, to say nothing of the previous track being one. Great music though. Super piano passage as we pass into the fifth minute, so we're now halfway through.
I'm beginning to wonder, to be honest, if there are going to be any vocals. It's progressing on now to the seventh minute and really, if singing began now it would be kind of superfluous. Yeah, we're in minute nine now and there is no way this is not an instrumental, as powerful choral vocals seem to be the only voices in this epic track and it begins to move towards its grand conclusion. Vocals however are all that “The Return Part 2” consist of, totally
acapella at least for the first minute or so before guitar chimes in nicely along with some soft flute. Superb guitar outro, and this closes the second suite. The final track which, as I mentioned, has “Epilogue” before it, is “His majesty love”, and is a punchy, uptempo track which kind of ruins the effect of the last part of the closing suite. Actually it's more as if it were a bonus track; just does not fit in. Pity, because it's the only low point in a really great album.
Overall impression: Superb album, totally blown away by this.
Hum Factor: 8
Intention: They have three other albums, so, you know...