SOMNAMBULIST - THE PARANORMAL HUMIDOR - 2001

It's quite complex and very entertaining, musically .!

The second effort by Somnambulist "Paranormal Humidor" has demonstrated their steadfast progress in their music direction. Enjoying this album is very entertaining for me because I can have a mix feelings being in modern world but a bit of trip to the past through the sounds of organ and mellotron in the vein of sometimes like King Crimson, sometimes Van der Graff Generator, with some nuance of ELP. Well, actually I can say that Somnambulist has their own music identity which is quite hard to find similarities with other legendary or modern bands. But for sure I like with the facts that their music is tightly composed, complex, and unpredictable with relatively no catchy melody. That's not the case with enjoying the music of Somnambulist. What you need to do is just sit down, relax, enjoy the stream of music Somnambulist (Terry Clouse / bass guitars, Jody Park / synthesizers, organ, & piano, Charlie Shelton / electric & acoustic guitars, Jo Whitaker / drums & percussion, and Peter Cornell / vocals) is playing. You will find how the band brings your mind somewhere with their compositions. Typically, you will find their music has relatively high density but it's quite enjoyable. It's definitely not the kind of music that you can sing along easily like Genesis' "Afterglow" or King Crimson' "Epitaph" as most of the songs featured in this album have practically no catchy melody.

The opening track "In the Mindwarp Pavillion" (8:09) gives you movie theater nuance with some narrative at the opening part followed with complex music that flows like a combination of Van der Graff, England and King Crimson music. "Pathos of Least Resistance" (7:37) starts simple with drum work followed with a music where bass guitar is very dominant augmented with weird keyboard work and vocal line. This song has excellent keyboard solo in the middle. "Destiny, She Said" (7:23) is much accessible and it has slow tempo. "Troy Built Helen" (10:10) starts with nice acapella followed with great music dominated by keyboard in quite strange arrangements, in the vein of King Crimson. It's really a good intro part, especially with the keyboard sounds at the background. "Paranormal Humidor" (13:20) is a very nice song with ambient style at the opening part, original in nature as I have never heard this kind of style. The music moves faster in tempo and in more complex arrangements .. oh this makes me much more attracted with the music - especially the stunning combination of guitar, keyboard and Bill Bruford-like drum work. Excellent!

Overall, this is a truly excellent addition to any progressive music. You must enjoy this album with an open mind to get the full subtleties of the music. Yeah, it's really a progressive music. Keep on proggin' ..!
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