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SEPTENTRIÓN

Anima Mundi

Symphonic Prog


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Anima Mundi Septentrión album cover
3.54 | 70 ratings | 6 reviews | 19% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 2002

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. Horizonte (2:00)
2. Por Siempre (3:44)
3. Centinela (5:13)
4. Caleidoscopio (2:22)
5. Peregrino Del Tiempo (11:31) :
- I. La Lartida
- II. En Faena De Hombre
- III. Cabalgando El Reino
6. Mas Allá (5:16)
7. La Montaña Del Vigía (4:25)
8. Las Praderas Del Corazón (6:33)
9. Tierra Invisible (3:51)
10. El Hallazgo (5:45)
11. El Umbral (8:41) :
- I. Vuelo De Libertad
- II. Encuentro
12. Septentrión (11:16) :
- I. Visión Y Anhelo
- II. Recuerdos Del Aliento
- III. Sin Regreso
- IV. Oculto Firmamento
- V. Océano De Abismos

Total time 70:37

Line-up / Musicians

- Andremil Oropeza / lead vocals
- Roberto Diaz / electric & acoustic guitars, vocals, composer & producer
- Virginia Peraza / keyboards, programming, vocals
- Ariel Angel / bass
- Ariel Valdés / drums, percussion

With:
- Regis Rodrigues / Galician bagpipe, recorder (5,10,11), tin whistle (3,12)
- Anaisy Gomez / Galician bagpipe, recorder (5,7), clarinet (10,11)

Releases information

Artwork: Virginia Peraza with Yailín

MC EGREM (2001)

CD Mellow Records ‎- MMP 432 (2002, Italy)
CD Anima Mundi Music ‎- AMMUS 003 (2012, Cuba) Remastered, with new cover art

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to Quinino for the last updates
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ANIMA MUNDI Septentrión ratings distribution


3.54
(70 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(19%)
19%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(29%)
29%
Good, but non-essential (43%)
43%
Collectors/fans only (7%)
7%
Poor. Only for completionists (3%)
3%

ANIMA MUNDI Septentrión reviews


Showing all collaborators reviews and last reviews preview | Show all reviews/ratings

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by memowakeman
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
4 stars Excellent prog from Cuba!!!

I´m glad to review this album that i discovered something like 3 months ago, sadly it seems that only a few people knows it, (Erik) but here i am, to share my feel and to suggest it to other people.

It´s a surprise to find this band, i love the fact that every country has at least one or two excellent bands which represent progressive rock, i thought Cuba was really far to have progressive rock bands, but i have found a couple of excellent bands, one of them is "Sintesis" which i wont talk this time obviously, but it´s another great band, and A2nima Mundi" which is why i am here.

I I will tell you a brief history of the band, they started in 1996 with the leader Roberto Diaz after graduating of Musical Composition (guitar was his speciality), and little by little he was gather another friends/musicians during the next 5 years , the majority of them studied deeply some instrument, like clarinet Anais Gomez, or bagpipe Regis Rodriguez, then they were playing and created this album called "Septentrion" which was released in 2002, sadly, due to the departure of Ariel Valdez, the band has had a "stagnation" period since then.

About the album: Okay i wont bore you anymore with those dates, let´s talk about the album. Here you will find 12 songs, the first one "Horizonte" is kind of introduction, and instrumental, in fact there are various instrumental tracks, this first track could sound as a new age track, so dont think that New Age is the way of the album, then "Por Siempre" is another instrumental, but this time we will find the predominative sound of bagpipe, i simply love it, it´s maybe what makes this album unique and special, the song could sound a bit folkish due to that bagpipes, but then when keys and drums appears, you will notice a clear Neo sound.

"Centinela" is the first song which includes vocals, not outstanding nothing special but if you like vocals in spanish you could like it, the song is again plenty of keys and some soft guitars, also i like to sing it. We will find a lot of bagpipe here, it´s the sound or instrument that takes the album, and i like it because it´s something different, i mean we could find bagpipes on Mago de Oz albums or some Metal albums, obviously in some folk music, but in a symphonic band it´s not usua and that´s why i liked this album so much, but be careful, because if you dont like the sound of this instrument, then you will get bored easily.

A beautiful example and song is "La Montaña del Vigia" which is again completely instrumental but sooo enjoyable, i use to repeat that song when the album is over, also it sound a bit gypsy. "Las Praderas del Corazon" is my favorite song, not the best song of the album in my opinion, but i simply love it, i love the sound, the rythm and vocals, here they dont show us their best and most complex creation, but you might like this song. To finish the album we will find 3 excellent songs "El Hallazgo", "El Umbral" and "Septentrion", here we will notice a blend of all their elements , folk and symphonic passages, also in El Umbral we will find the best moment of guitars, trhoug the album there are lots of acoustic and soft guitar sounds, but this time they take the lead role and show us an excellent sound, the last song is excellent, very proggy and never boring, i said this because the album´s lenght is over 70 minutes, i dont like so much albums with more than an hour of music, it´s a personal feeling, when the music is good no matter it´s lenght, but i just wanted to point that if you feel the same, maybe when you arrive to the last 2 songs you could be a bit bored.

Now, i am waiting for Erik´s review and then hope other people giving a chance to it, it´s not a masterpiece, but it´s a great album in my opinion, i like it so much and i will suggest it to you, 4 stars, highly recommendable to any progfan.

Take this trip to Cuba!

Review by erik neuteboom
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars We can enjoy more and more wonderful prog from the Latin-American continent: after Jaen Kief from Colombia and Parthenon from Venezuela, here is Anima Mundi from .. Cuba, in general known because of the sigars and angry words by Fidel Castro about the USA! But back to the music: after Memowakeman his wonderful and elobarate review, I can only add my small contribution in order to support this unique prog. Anima Mundi sounds very melodic and tasteful, this new band makes a good impression on their debut-CD. After a wonderful Vangelis-like keyboard intro, the other 13 compositions deliver an omnipresent bag-pipe sound in pleasant interplay with strong guitarwork (propulsive riffs and sensitive and fiery soli), varied but functional keyboards (except some flashy synthesizer soli) and the high-pitched sound of the tin-whistle flute. De atmospheres alternate between dreamy (with melancholical overtones) and often mid-tempo with a tight beat and warm Spanish vocals. I am impressed by Anima Mundi their music, especially the neo-prog and folk-prog fans will be delighted about this promising band!
Review by hdfisch
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars I purchased this CD more than one year ago, actually without knowing anything about this band and having heard one single note from them. My motivation was mainly curiosity since they're from Cuba and I just love to have Prog CDs from all over the world and any exotic country and Fidel Castro's home country isn't really famous for coming Progressive Rock from there. Actually after listening to it a couple of times meanwhile I've to say that it certainly might be exceptional for Cuba but apart from the appealing sound of bagpipes it fails offering me anything exciting. Still the nicer and more enjoyable tracks are the dreamy ones like "Caleidoscopio" for example starting with some bird singing or "Las Praderas del Corazón". But especailly the more mid-tempo ones are sounding too much straight forward and moreover I do not like very much the vocals. The only more up-tempo track I still find enjoyable is the instrumental one "El Umbral" though being anything special neither apart from the bagpipes and moreover quite derivative. Overall the music offered here doesn't reveal much of "real progressive" sense and I could (if at all) recommend this album only to fans of lightweight, melodic NeoProg. But still good for 3 stars!

Latest members reviews

4 stars Cuba is certainly the last nation one would think of to discover progressive rock bands. There is a fabulous band called Anima Mundi yet. I had the opportunity to see them twice in concert and it was a treat, really! I did not know this first opus released on a small Italian independent label, Mello ... (read more)

Report this review (#2988849) | Posted by Thierry | Tuesday, February 6, 2024 | Review Permanlink

4 stars The debut album from these Cuban masters of symphonic prog. The album has recently been made into a free download from their homepage. But I have had it for a long time and have had this review on the backburner for some week. But it is nice to promote one of the best free downloads in the prog ... (read more)

Report this review (#560763) | Posted by toroddfuglesteg | Tuesday, November 1, 2011 | Review Permanlink

4 stars Just finished listening to the first album Anima Mundi, Septentrion, 2002. A conceptual album, bagpipes and flutes, musical games to Celtic remains in many places, folk and prog. It was a mistake after having heard excellent The Way. But I have a caveat: I can imagine how difficult it must have b ... (read more)

Report this review (#324988) | Posted by M3g52 | Wednesday, November 17, 2010 | Review Permanlink

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