SONUS UMBRA - SNAPSHOTS FROM LIMBO - 2000

When I received this album in the mail, I looked at the package and immediately got neo-proggy vibes. So, it was a nice surprise when I popped it in and found the music to be only somewhat neo-proggy, and good neo-proggy at that. Perhaps the closest connections to this much-maligned subgenre are the occasionally plastic keyboard timbres, and the low, breathy, slightly accented vocals of Luis Nasser (I get reminded of Cast, but the vocals and lyrics here are far superior). The music, then, is a pretty interesting dark symphonic rock with influences from all the usual suspects. Yet the band's use of dynamics - the contrasts between beautiful, delicate acoustic-guitar sections and more aggressive, occasionally Crimsonish passages - is really very good, and is probably what attracts me to the music as a whole. The profuse use of acoustic guitar lends a nice texture to the whole album.

High points include "Doppelganger", the most Crimson sounding piece on the album, at least superficially; "Erich Zann", a nice instrumental spiced up by some ethnic percussion; and the masterpiece of the album, "Homo Homini Lupus", which features a great bass and acoustic guitar intro (Nasser's bass playing is fairly high, and reminds vaguely of Rush) and ends with a hot guitar solo. There are a few duff tracks that get a bit too far into keyboard-dominated neo for my tastes, but overall, this is a solid album. Those of you who enjoy accessible, melodic symphonic prog will definitely dig this release. Incidentally, Sonus Umbra are originally from Mexico but have recently relocated to the Baltimore area. This album was released on the Moonchild label, which is now defunct; the band has been signed to Musea, so we can probably expect a somewhat more high-profile release the next time around. I'm looking forward to it.
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