POST MORTEM

Last year I was contacted by Marcos Antonelli, one of the members of Post Mortem in order to indtroducing me to their music, and basically their debut full-length album entitled Indicios. I thank Marcos for it, and please accept my apologies because I should have written this review ages ago. Well, Post Mortem is a quartet from La Plata, Argentina, whose first official release saw the light in 2009 as an EP; and five years later, with more years of experience they decided to release their first album which I have to say is pretty good.

Their music has an obvious tendency to the metal side of prog, that's inherent, however, they also bring elements from their roots, from their Argentinean folk and the worldwide known tango, so those elements add rich textures to their compositions. The album is relatively short, with 36 minutes of music. It opens with "Plan" and since the first seconds we can appreciate a nice balance between guitars and keyboards, creating together nice passages that are greatly complemented by bass and drums. After a minute and a half vocals enter, adding a new interesting element to the music, when the voice appears the background is calmer, not that heavy; but then the instrumental moments bring again a bit more power. I like a lot the kind of gothic atmospheres created by keyboards, and the guitar solo at the end of the track.

The album continues with "País" which I think stands as my favorite track because of several details: the saxophone addition at the beginning is amazing, it puts a richer sound without a doubt; then when vocals appear, a sense of fear appears, like if it was a horror-like movie; and then the music makes a lot of changes in these 6 minutes, so it is evident that the compositional skills from Post Mortem are great. I like they also write in Spanish, not because it is my native language, no, but because I have always preferred bands singing in precisely, their native languages, it is like part of their essence, I think. Later in this song we can enjoy soft guitar solos greatly accompanied by an organ and drums; interesting passages that might please anyone's ears.

"Él sabe" brings at first a kind of somber atmosphere with some doom-like guitars, but later the rhythm slows down and vocal appear, making a totally catchy sound. The lyrics are pretty nice, and the last two minutes are more intense and more interesting, honestly I think I would have preferred it simply instrumental. "Sed" is another great track that has its dose of gothic nuances, but that changes while the time is running, "Indicios" is the longest composition, a ten-minute track full of great elements, details and changes. It has a slow beginning, with piano and vocals but then guitars and drums appear and all together create a sound that in moments remind me of Ayreon's passages. What I like of this song is that it passes fast, I mean, one can easily enjoy it, the minutes run and everything is great, its sound is friendly and easy to dig, which does not mean it is easy to create, not at all.

"Postudio" is the last song of the album, and though it is a nice one, and the sense of goodbye can be perceived from the beginning. It is a nice instrumental track (with spoken word) that closes this nice album. Congratulations to Post Mortem, although I would not say this is a masterpiece, I believe this album may appeal to prog and metal fans from around the world; it is easy to dig and to enjoy. They might have a couple of weak points, but I like it nonetheless and I think they have the potential to create a more solid release. Let's cross fingers!

Enjoy it!

"Él sabe" is a ballad with little distorted guitar. The ten minute title track opens with the sound of coins spinning. Nice piano and acoustic guitar starts things off. After awhile some mid- paced prog metal with nice faux string sounds. The music gets busier and more varied as it goes along. "Postludio" is a nice end to the album. A melodic and easy-going 'prog metal' track . It features overdubbed spoken word and a children's toy instrument at the end.

These guys are fairly new and this is their first full-length, so as good as this album is I think they still got some better ones in them yet. The sax in "Pais" and the vocal harmonies and spoken word parts separate them from your average prog metal band. The singing, although in Spanish, can remind one of some Italian prog bands. Overall a decent effort and an enjoyable listen. I will give this 3 stars(good but not essential).

This is the first full album by the band Post Mortem and is labeled as post metal. There is, as a matter of fact, a good amount of metal in the album, but it seems to be closer to a Hard Progressive because the metal passages, although well done, are not as constant as I have heard in most progressive metal albums. There is also a good presence of keyboards here. The variety of both is very good and balanced throughout the album.

Post Mortem comes from Argentina and the lyrics are in their native language I believe, there is no English, but for someone that doesn't understand the language, I wasn't bothered by it much. The vocals were well done and matched the music quite well. I did enjoy listening to the album and it is obvious the band members are all excellent musicians. The song writing however, was pretty standard heavy progressive fare, nothing really surprising, but there was a good share of tempo and meter changes throughout to keep things interesting. The music seems dramatic enough, but it falls into the trap of letting the addition and subtraction of instruments be the element that dictates dynamic sound instead of doing it through harder or softer playing. I'm not sure if that is because of the production or if it is how the instruments are being played. It is easy enough to hear all that is going on in the mix, but there is something that just isn't right in the delivery and I believe it is in the dynamics and the way they are delivered.

That being said, this is a very good effort for the band, especially seeing as it is their first full album. They did produce an E.P. (which I haven't heard), but I would assume they have a more mature sound here. There are some really great stand out tracks that I like, namely "Pais" with a tastefully done saxophone solo that fits right in to the music. Don't let that scare you because it is a great solo that doesn't sound at all tacky in this setting, it really is a nice addition. "Sed" is another great track that starts out with a nice piano introduction and flows nicely into the song. "Indicios" is a well-written progressive song that lasts a little over 10 minutes and is the epic of the album. It has 3 sections that flow together well and reminds me of a more well-seasoned band. The other tracks are also well done and the biggest issue I have is with the dynamics.

As I said, I really enjoyed this album and would listen to it again. I would also be happy to recommend it to others, especially those who love Dream Theatre or Ayreon, as long as you don't mind the lyrics not being in English. That doesn't really bother me because I am used to hearing music in other languages, especially Italian, and the lyrics seem to flow very well. I would consider this a 3.5 star rating, but because of the musicianship and composition, I will round it up to 4 stars. Great music from a band that shows a lot of promise.

The debut EP from progressive metal band Post Mortem is quite enjoyable, despite being completely derivative of the prog metal giants. The four musicians are all extremely talented and the compositions are well-crafted and emotional. The only real issue I have with Lo Que Te Quiero Decir is the lack of originality.

This EP consists of 5 tracks in just over 28 minutes. In that short amount of time, we have a really enjoyable progressive metal EP. The musicianship is fantastic, and is surely the highlight of the album for me. The bass playing from Andres Antonelli is really superb, and he has some real chops as a bassist. The guitar playing from Marcos Antonelli is solid, and he does a really good job throughout the EP. The keyboard playing from Ivan Rolon is good, but not great. He is talented, but I often feel like he is lacking in his own distinct sound. Israel Gherman does a good job on drums as well. He never does anything really fantastic, but his playing suits the music well. The singing is completely sung in the band's native language, so I can't understand it at all. The vocals aren't particularly powerful, but they get the job done.

The songwriting is pretty great as well. This EP is filled with dynamic compositions, and the musicians deliver it well. Some parts are forgettable and some transitions bother me every time, but as a whole this is a well crafted EP in terms of songwriting. Some songs really stand out, and my favorite track is Libertad. The opening track, Por Que is pretty great as well. The title track is also pretty enjoyable, though it is more flawed than the other two songs I just mentioned. As a whole, this is a pretty consistent EP filled with memorable moments.

The only real drawback that this EP has is definitely a big one. Lo Que Te Quiero Decir has no real sense of originality or self identity. Despite the fact that the band is talented and has created some great music, this EP is severely lacking in terms of originality. This is typical run-of-the-mill prog metal with no real experimentations or innovations. It often sounds like Post Mortem is trying to sound like Dream Theater, Fates Warning, or Symphony X. If the band can develop a sense of originality, they can have a lot of potential.

Conclusion:

Lo Que Te Quiero Decir is a decent debut EP from Post Mortem, and a 2.5 star rating is deserved. Despite the fact that the songwriting and musicianship is above average, the band is lacking severely in terms of having their own identity. If Post Mortem can develop their own sound, I'm confident that they can create some great prog metal. As for now, this is an unessential EP. If you're looking for some modern prog metal this isn't a terrible choice, but there is much better progressive metal around before you get this.

2 stars.

The music on the EP quite obviously draws influences from some of the usual suspects in the progressive metal genre like Fates Warning and Dream Theater. Despite the obvious influences the band have been able to make a pretty good and enjoyable EP. The musicianship is generally excellent and I just have to give a special mention here to bassist Andres Antonelli for his playing on the EP. Rather impressive bass lines from him. The instrumentation includes guitar, bass, drums, keyboards and vocals. The vocals are delivered in the band´s native language, so I have to admit that I don´t understand one single word. It´s not always necessary though and this is a case where I´m not bothered by that fact. The vocals are good but doesn´t stand out as something unique IMO which you can count as a minor complaint but not something that really annoys me. I guess I just find them a bit ordinary for the genre. The production is good but not up there with the best. It´s allright though. The five songs on the EP are all quality compositions and it´s nice to hear a band that really tries hard to make their songs stand out from each other. That part of the plan certainly turns out a succes but not all ideas are equally exciting or original and overall Post Mortem still need to find their own sound.

To be honest I didn´t expect much when I was given the opportunity to review "Lo Que Te Quiero Decir" having never heard of Post Mortem before but I´ve been pleasantly surprised by the quality and promising nature of the EP. As mentioned above I still think the band need to work on a more original style if they are gonna make it in the already overcrowded progressive metal genre, but they seem to have the will to develop their style further and I´ll be following their next move closely. 2.5 - 3 stars are deserved.