ZORA

When I listened to the opening "The Gnome" it was hard to believe that this band had anything to do with "Jacula" in their earlier incarnation. I was not quite enthusiast about the first album from "Antonius Rex" but this song is by far the worse they have released so far.

The band (or "Jacula" before) proposed a very dark, heavy and scary prog which was almost instrumental. The contrast with this electro-pop tune is quite difficult to imagine. Some sort of Italian "new wave" with awful beats. Best avoided for sure?

The feel is different when "Necromancer" starts: one can get these wonderfully dark moments for a while, but when "vocals" enter the scene, some poor feeling surrounds you. It only gets better during the instrumental and jazzy section.

The usual church organ during "Spiritualist Séance" provides some good vibes and is fully reminiscent of the "Jacula" 's debut work. The gloomy atmosphere is there, the scary themes as well, but the last third is too much like improvised and with little structure. They should have better cut a long story shorter?

At the end of the day, the best song might well be the title track. For once, it features truly vocals and some "gentle" melody (within "Antonius Rex' s concepts). But I'm not moved with the re- incarnation of "UFDEM". Was the band in lack of creativity to fill out an album of less than thirty seven minutes? Apparently.

This album really sounds as below average. As a vocalist, Doris Norton could never convinced me. She's just poor in her role. Two stars.