I ME MYSELF

Well, here is one of the great symphonic prog bands of this millennium. I had huge expectations for this release as I had considered each of their previous 2 releases 5 star albums. And I must say, the band's compositional skills and musicianship remain at their peak. Just fantastic- nobody does it better than Roberto Diaz, Virginia Peraza, and the rest of the instrumentalists.

So why only 4 stars? Obviously, it's the new vocalist, Two albums ago, they had Carlos Sosa on vocals, and he was perfect on "The Way". On the last album, "The Lamplighter" they had Emmanuel Pirko Farrath, and although he sang with a rather thick accent, his voice was rich and warm and fit the music well. Now we have "I Me Myself" and another new vocalist, Michel Bermudez. I find Bermudez' voice not only heavily accented, but also somewhat irritating. Especially when he is singing in a high pitch, which is most tracks except the closer, "Lone Rider", on which he is quite listenable. And although the lyrics are in English, hardly a word is understandable.

So here we have an album that could probably qualify for 6 stars musically, but I am bringing it down to 4 for the generally annoying vocals. The redeeming thing is that there are quite a few extended instrumental passages which are just a joy to hear. Oh, to have Carlos Sosa back singing on this album would have made it a truly exceptional album.

Well, here it is August 20, and after several months of repeated listens, I am raising my rating to 5 stars. My reason is that the vocals are now much less objectionable(except for maybe "Flowers"), and the music is so fantastic so that it cannot warrant less than 5 stars.

After the release of many good albums, the band is back with another symphonic adventure of epics songs. This is another concept album about the relation between human and the technology. And it is just what the music here is illustrating ; a modern symphonic prog rock style with heavier moments display by a heavy guitar sound only possible because of the modern technology of today. As usual, the music has a lot of quiet and beautiful atmosphere where the melody is carried slowly. The addition of sax and trumpet will make you think of VDGG and Pink Floyd, but the influences of those bands including Yes and Genesis are not obvious because the music has that unique Cuban type of Prog Rock. The keyboards lines are more upfront that those bands, but not as much as ELP. I really enjoyed the way the bass lines are flying throughout this album, also the new vocalist voice Bermudez is not bad.The band has the talent to bring the vocals at the right time after long instrumentals and majestic parts. The tree first songs are never boring and the song "Clocking Heart" is the only step back from that excellent album with a relaxed jazzy atmosphere. "Flowers" is less adventurous, but very catchy with a nice guitar solo , and the singer's voice seems a bit forced here. "Train to the Future" is another highlight of the album with a fast tempo pace where all instruments are shining. The last song is some acoustic and a more vocals- oriented song containing another beautiful ending with the electric guitar.

I can't remember how I found out about Anima Mundi but perhaps it was three years ago that I decided to buy "Jagannath Orbit" and give the band a try. The music was full blown symphonic prog with layers of keyboards, guitars, percussion and vocals singing about "Love and Light", a Jon Anderson/ Yes inspired album to be sure. I bought a song from "The Way" from iTunes and then left the band for awhile, always thinking to go back and try another album someday. In the meantime, they re-released their debut, this time in English (the original was in their native Spanish) and recorded a new studio album "The Lamplighter". Then some weeks back I saw that Oliver Rüsing of KariBow posted on KariBow's Facebook page that the two bands had shared the bill at one venue and had gotten to know each other. By coincidence someone posted on a Facebook prog page about Anima Mundi's new album "I Me Myself". I gave the music a cursory listen and was stunned. I ordered the album soon after.

I'm not sure what I missed in between but Anima Mundi went from a spiritual and uplifting symphonic prog band complete with a didgeridoo to what sounds a lot like a heavy prog band. This album features some pretty darn heavy guitars and more Hammond organ (catch the organ solo in "Flowers" that references Genesis). The mood is dark, generally speaking though there are some lighter and some almost whimsical parts. Certainly though, this album has lost the floating-on-a- spiritual-high feel that "Jagannath Orbit" had. The title track, and parts of "Somewhere", "Flowers" and "Train to the Future" are so heavy and muscular that this doesn't seem like the same band. I like that!

There's another important aspect and that's the stripped down approach to composition. I feel like this album could have been recorded on an 8-track because there's a simplicity, even sparsity to the music at times with only drums, bass and keyboards or drums, bass and vocals carrying the song. Because of this simpler approach the bass guitar stands out more. Add to this the drums, the Hammond sound, Mellotron, or synthesizers, and the harder, heavier guitar and you have an album that packs a punch!

Not everything is so clenched and gritted though. "Clockwork Heart" offers a sly black-cat-cool jazzy touch and more atmospheric passages take us across the oceans between the rocky continents and islands. There's also a sombre but beautiful piano passage in "Train to the Future", which turns into a kind of requiem or dirge before a Pink Floyd-like guitar solo comes in, accompanied by rising strings. It concludes with strummed acoustic guitar and a cello. Come to think of it, the cello has become a pretty regular instrument to hear on prog albums. The closing song "Lone Rider" includes some flute and is possibly the most relaxed track on the album.

Though there was plenty to catch my attention from the get-go, it's taken me a few listens to really soak in all the sounds and songs. Parts I previously dismissed as less interesting have proven to offer some terrific music reaching for different emotions. With this album Anima Mundi have earned themselves a spot on my bands-to-hear-more list, and with Virginia Peraza's remark saying something to the effect that the trilogy of "The Way", "The Lamplighter" and "I Me Myself" make Anima Mundi's three best albums or something, I will be giving this band more attention.