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DETRÁS DEL UMBRAL

Nexus

Symphonic Prog


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Nexus Detrás Del Umbral album cover
4.06 | 138 ratings | 7 reviews | 40% 5 stars

Excellent addition to any
prog rock music collection

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Studio Album, released in 1999

Songs / Tracks Listing

1. El Despertar (2:23)
2. Condenados (8:06)
3. Mas Alla Del Limite (3:27)
4. Tiempo Sin Razon (6:09)
5. Utopia (2:24)
6. La Espiral (2:48)
7. Signos En El Cielo (10:52)
8. Sueno Infinito (4:51)
9. Detras Del Umbral (9:17)
10. La Procesion Int?rior (3:37)
11. Eterno Y Fugaz (10:22)
12. La Batalla (4:17)
13. El Ultimo Ritual (4:51)

Total Time 73:24

Line-up / Musicians

- Mariela González / vocals
- Carlos Lucena / electric & acoustic guitars, Fx
- Lalo Huber / Korg, Prophecy & Ensoniq synths, Fx
- Daniel Ianniruberto / basses, Korg synth, Fx
- Luis Nakamura / drums, cymbals

Releases information

Recorded Live in studio

Artwork: Claudio Aboy and Jorge Piazza

CD Record Runner ‎- RR-0220 (1999, Argentina)

Thanks to ProgLucky for the addition
and to projeKct for the last updates
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NEXUS Detrás Del Umbral ratings distribution


4.06
(138 ratings)
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music(40%)
40%
Excellent addition to any prog rock music collection(41%)
41%
Good, but non-essential (16%)
16%
Collectors/fans only (2%)
2%
Poor. Only for completionists (1%)
1%

NEXUS Detrás Del Umbral reviews


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

Collaborators/Experts Reviews

Review by Marcelo
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars First album of the best Argentinian band in the last 20 years.

NEXUS plays a sort of classic symphonic rock heavily influenced by the '70s super-bands, specially ELP (it's obvious in the keyboards style), blended with some neo-progressive elements, but I wouldn't include the band inside neo-prog frontiers; I think it goes beyond.

Nevertheless, the cohesive interplay among musicians, very good melodies and lyrics and the strong voice of Mariela González (the female singer), makes this album a must. Probably, a classic of the future.

Review by The Prognaut
PROG REVIEWER
5 stars NEXUS' debut album. Band members strongly influenced by GENESIS and ELP. In "Detrás del Umbral", lead singer Mariela GONZÁLEZ brings out the María CALLAS inside of her with an exceptional opera technique perfected by her; the Spanish lyrics give the album that Latin touch and comes along perfectly with the rhythmic Lalo HUBER's keyboard playing all along the 13 episodes of this musthave album. There's a slight sensation of conceptuality between "El Despertar" and "El Último Ritual", which happens to connect strangely right with the rest of the tracks. The instrumental passages that complete the album, such as "Más Allá del Límite", "Utopía" and my favorite out of the set, "La Espiral", meddle perfectly in between to give away that sensation of progressiveness NEXUS proposes in here. "Signos en el Cielo" and "Eterno y Fugaz" hold the definition of "epical" quite right, making the experience worthwhile and unforgettable. The Argentinean band contemplates the reliable basis to relive that 70's sound, with a touch of the overflowing 90's essence. Innovative, contemporary and fresh, NEXUS is definitely a keeper.
Review by Gatot
SPECIAL COLLABORATOR Honorary Collaborator
3 stars I remember that I pre-ordered this album in 1999 and to me it was like a gambling one because I knew nothing about the band yet; it's a debut album from an Argentinian band. I knew nothing about Argentina but Maradonna. I gave it a try. Then I got the signed copy of this album with signatures of all band members. When I received the CD (thru my neo prog colleague, Bowo, who ordered directly from the band) I did not spin the CD right away. I read the sleeve and tried to enjoy and appreciate what our colleague proggers from Argentina was trying to do. It were very nice words penned by the band that overall they were trying to say that NEXUS is the band that would love to be in its own and push any musical boundaries. These are excerpts from the sleeve: "NEXUS was born during the glorious 70's in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as the secret dream of a group of young schoolboys. A dream that brought those boys very Close to the Edge . up to the Gates of Delirium. A dream sometimes Fragile .."

Such wonderful wordings. We can definitely say that this group has been inspired by YES. I was hooked with the introduction thru the CD sleeve. I even tried to understand what lyrics were trying to say in the English translation. When I got enough understanding of the band, then I put the CD in my player. First spin did not give me enough shot on any specific things about their music. For sure, it's a keyboard based music with some classical influence as well as previous prog heroes. After two or more spin, I felt that it was nothing special about the band. Couple weeks ago I started spinning the CD again. And this is my opinion about the band.

Before I come to my opinion, let me share my view about things related to cloning or the "like" (like GENESIS, like MARILLION, like IQ, like this and that .., or reminiscent of . ). In my opinion, music is derivative - it is a sure thing that the PREDECESSORS influenced the SUCCESSORS. Simply put, the origin of music that we nowadays called it as "classical" music was not categorized that way when it was first invented by composers like MOZART, BEETHOVEN, etc. So is the case with rock music especially prog music. Most of us agree that the roots of prog were originated from bands like MOODY BLUES "Days Future Passed" (even though I personally disagree with this album), PINK FLOYD, YES, CAMEL, GENESIS, ELP, KING CRIMSON. By which all of them were influenced by THE BEATLES (the predecessors). So, it's natural if newer bands are influenced by the elders. So, I'm okay if new bands are influenced by previous ones like MARILLION, IQ, PALLAS, PENDRAGON, CITIZEN CAIN, DARIUS, JADIS, THE WATCH, MAGENTA etc. , it's natural. I have also seen that prog music has varied greatly. Take a look at DREAM THEATER, for example. Yes, it's influenced by previous bands but they pioneered the new subgenre of prog music: prog metal. No harm at all. Even they became the trend setter in prog met arena. It's very hard to say that DT music is original but if you listen to their music you would see they have created a music of their own that is unique. I would only make strong comments if a certain piece of musical segments of predecessors are taken with 90% similarities by newer bands.

And, this is my opinion about this album.

The album opens with an instrumental piece "El Despertar" that demonstrates the keyboard and some sound effects to create sufficient ambient intro for the band to move forward with their musical exploration. Having listened to this atmospheric intro, I usually expect the music would move in faster tempo with an uplifting emotion. It's not happening with this album. It moves to 2nd track "Condenados" in a very very slow tempo. It's too slow and it's not uplifting at all. I even keep myself telling "keep it up, boys, keep it up!" while listening to this album. It's recorded already, what can I say? The keyboard and guitar don't help a lot; it's too simple.

Third track "Mas Alla Del Limite" moves the music into a moderate tempo with domination of keyboard and sound effects. Until this track, I've found it very difficult for me to catch any YES influence. Most influence that I can identify is GENESIS especially the keyboard player and band leader, LALO HUBER, that seems to emulate TONY BANK's style. This is a short instrumental track demonstrating how HUBER plays keyboard. The electric guitar is only used to fill in some bars with little solo. The mixing of drum sound seems too dominant here.

The fourth track "Tiempo Sin Razon" opens with spacey keyboard sound and some touch of HACKETTian guitar to accentuate the atmosphere, I think. The music then moves to an uplifting and faster tempo style. It's a very nice opening. Ooops. at minute 1:49 I match a musical segment that is so familiar with me: it's musical segment of MARILLION's "Real to Reel" live album; to exact is in the MARKET SQUARE HEROES track. Yes, it is so obvious! However, I really enjoy this track - it has a powerful energy even though it's too late that this track is positioned at the fourth place while the first three were not dynamic at all.

The fifth track is a very simple and slow track "Utopia" with electric guitar dominates the music. It's not so interesting track to enjoy - again, it's too mellow. It continues seamlessly to "La Espiral" with an energetic opening - a blend of guitar and dazzling keyboard. This time, the electric guitar appears in a daring mood. The keyboard interlude is also interesting even though the drummer has siome obstacles to keep up with the music.

Track 7 "Signos En El Cielo" is a relatively long track with 10:52 duration. The opening part is uplifting until when the drum plays at certain bar and the music changes to a mellow style again. The excellent vocal line then enters the scene. It's a melodious part with excellent keyboard style. There is a GENESIS Foxtrot rhythm style at the part when the vocal line is not included before keyboard solo at the interlude. In my opinion this track is too long as there are some boring stuffs. It then moves to even mellower track 8 "Sueno Infinito" demonstrating the vocal line of MARIELA GONZALES. This is the turning point when I feel that overall the music of this album is so boring; it has a minimum changing tempos and no energy.

Track 9 "Detras Del Umbral" is the album title track; so it's fair that I should expect this must be a masterpiece work. The keyboard intro is definitely influenced by CAST (Mexico) music; even there is a very close proximity. Overall this track is good but it still fails to lift me up. Yes, I have to admit that the solo keyboard is nice but it lacks structural integrity of overall music, composition-wise. I don't intend to demean what the band has worked hard to compose their music, but that's what I feel. The CAST-like melodies appear many times in this track. Hope that this is a coincidence. Am I too naïve? Well, the band should know the answer.

"La Procesion Intérior" is an instrumental piece to welcome an uplifting part of track 11 "Eterno Y Fugaz". I can smell an influence of RICK WAKEMAN and ELP in this track. The keyboard work is excellent. But again, then the music returns to a mellow style with female vocal and piano. Having done with the vocal part the music moves back to the uplifting intro part.

The rest two tracks "La Batalla", "El Ultimo Ritual" share the similar musical style that I don't need to elaborate. Overall, the band is promising; it has an excellent keyboard player. However, it lacks musical composition and song writing as well as musicianship other than keyboard. Again, I don't intend to demean all efforts the band has tried to achieve. But I have to be honest with my position. So, it's a hard work for the band to move forward. A drastic measure must be taken by the band if they want to achieve significant leapfrog in the future. The band should take full contribution of each musician in the band to their fullest. It should not demonstrate only keyboard work. Gatot Widayanto, Indonesia.

Review by Tarcisio Moura
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Excellent debut by one of the most important representants of sy,phonic prog music in south america. The group shows they were more than ready to record when they released this album in 1999. And although Metanoia was the CD to really gave them a wider exposure, Detras Del Umbral was nothing shorter in terms of composition and perfomance. Ok, the production may not as perfect as on Metanoia, but it is good enough here. In fact, in many aspects I like this CD more than its follow up.

The source fo their inspiration is clearly the 70´s symphonic bands, or, to be more specific, Emerson, Lake & palmer. The keyboards scream Keith Emerson all over the CD, except on the second part, where you can also hear some Tony Banks and Rick Wakeman influences. Mariela Gonzales is surely a charismatic and strong singer, but her voice is not everybody´s cup of tea. And the impression given is that the band is much more an instrumental group than anything else (the vocals are a bit underused), which may explains her leaving after their second efford.

On the other hand you have over 70 minutes of very good symphonic prog music. Carlos Lucena´s guitar licks and solos are less proeminent here than on other Nexus works, but still he shows his great skill and tastefullness when he appears. The rhythm section of Daniel Ianniruberto (bass) and Luix Nakamura (drums) is very precise and creative. One of my favorite songs is the powerful Tiempo Sin Razon, which is followed by the fine slower instrumental Utopia, and then it sequels into another short instrumental that reminds me of the greman group Triunvirat). Not a single filler in the whole album which I always hear with the same pleasure from start to finish. Detras Del Umbral seems to be a long suite with several parts and variations, but as a whole I think it is a highly successful debut. They already sounded like a seasoned band.

If you enjoy keyboards driven symphonic music of the 70´s, especially influenced by giants like Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman, you should not miss this one. 4 stars, no less! Congratulations, hermanos!

Review by Mellotron Storm
PROG REVIEWER
3 stars I feel like i've come full circle with this band after beginning with their second album "Metanoia" and following that up with their next two in chronological order. So here I am at the start of their careers with this 1999 debut. Like "Metanoia" we have the female vocalist and also lots of keyboards, but the compositions aren't nearly as good as they are on "Metanoia" in my opinion. So while there's lots to like here I would rank their next three above this one.

"El Despertar" has a dark atmosphere that invades the scene just before a minute. Some loud synths too. A good start. That dark mood continues on "Condenados" although it does kick in after a minute and vocals follow. "Mas Alca Del Lemite" has a good heavy beat with synths playing over top. Organ replaces the synths then guitar comes to the fore followed by synths again. A good instrumental track. "Tiempo Sin Razon" has these spacey synths to open followed by keys then vocals. "Utopia" opens with the sound of rain then tasteful guitar and atmosphere rolls in. I like this one. "La Espiral" features lots of keyboards and drums.

"Signos An El Cielo" is led by the guitar and background synths before a minute.It settles 3 1/2 minutes in and vocals come in a minute later.The guitar soars 7 1/2 minutes in followed by synths then organ as they trade off. "Sueno Infinito" opens with rain and thunder as gentle guitar takes over.Vocals and piano before a minute. "Detras Del Umbral" opens with swirling synths before drums and a full sound kick in. Synths pulse before 1 1/2 minutes then the vocals arrive. Organ before 4 1/2 minutes when the vocals stop.They're back after 8 minutes. "La Procesion Interior" builds with lots of synths helping out. "Eterno Y Fugaz" opens with organ as the drums join in along with a full sound. A calm before 1 1/2 minutes with reserved vocals.Vocals stop and the tempo picks up after 6 minutes to the end. "La Batalla" is a pretty good instrumental. "El Ultimio Ritual" is slower paced with vocals. Background synths after a minute when the vocals stop then it kicks in. Atmosphere and church bells end it.

Most rate their first three albums fairly evenly so i'd definitely check this out if you like female vocals and keyboard driven Symphonic Prog.

Review by DangHeck
PROG REVIEWER
4 stars Formed in what I've always referred to as the Second Wave of Progressive Rock in the late-70s, it's interesting to see another example of this, this being Nexus's first studio album some 20 years after that fact.

The optimism and yet simultaneous dark, ominous disposition of our opener, "El Despertar" ("The Awakening"), is something else. Some synth sounds and a certain melody therein reminded me of Tarkus- Trilogy era ELP. Big, expansive and, to wrap up thoughts, just plain tense. Definitely cause for excitement of what's to come. Quiet tension leads us into "Condenados" ("Condemned"), the first of four mini-epics on the album. This is our introduction to the vocals, performed by Mariela González. She has a deeper register, though, clearly talented as she may be, I'm not so much a fan of her vocals here. And so, in this case, it's driving my rating downward [for the song specifically]. The composition here is relatively strong, featuring loose but big drums and spacy, string-like keys, but the vocal melody itself is just boring to me. There's something reminiscent, I think, to Pink Floyd's "Young Lust" in the guitar riff's simplicity at the start. I had optimism Nexus were part of that wave of bands, starting in the '90s, that were breaking away from the trends of Neo-Prog in favor of the Neo-Symphonic [and in favor of my personal tastes, I feel I must add].

Clearly, instrumentally speaking, these are some talented musicians! Check out the excellent "Mas Alla Del Limite" ("Beyond the Limit")! Not in love with the guitar tone toward the end (it's just a tad bit thin to my ears), similar to that which we heard a bit on "Condenados", but the synths, I ignorantly assume performed by Lalo Huber, are just amazing (again, Keith Emerson called, and I'm totally wondering how, since he sadly passed in 2016) [Wow I'm dumb. This was released in 1999. I thought I was being funny; do I still have some chance?]. "Tiempo Sin Razon" ("Age of Unreason") is certainly a blast to the past, hearkening back to sounds not only of ELP, but of Greenslade, Curved Air, et al (I mean, help? I'm drawing a blank haha). The guitar sounds great here! Is what it is, but any tonal issues prior and forthcoming may just be chocked up to a 'sign of the times'. Vocals return for a stronger melody. And the strength of this composition, when once again compared with "Condenados", is just pushing this baby up in my book! Epic stuff, with bright synthy crescendos left and right.

"Utopia" is a slow, feeling number, featuring more Neo-Prog-ready keys and a guitar solo. It may offer you more than it had me; results, I'm sure, will vary. "La Espiral" ("The Spiral") certainly picks things back up, with the best guitar performances that we've seen thus far, awesome organ and horny lead lines. This one is a lot of fun. To me, really cool hearing this level of retro-ist era-homage. Favorite thus far, and, if nothing else, give this one a spin. It features our first daring experimentation with time, which we then hear continued on the next, "Signos En El Cielo" (supposedly "Symbols at the Sky"?), an exciting and emotive mini-epic, our longest track at just under 11 minutes. I love a good multi-section composition, and this is certainly that. We have classic variety in textures, intensity and dynamics. All slowly drops away before the first verse in the fourth minute. These melodies are far stronger than what came before and, if you don't know her, I'm at this time just going to recommend the excellent Happy Rhodes, whose 1994 album Building The Colossus is a favorite of mine. Inspired by Kate Bush and sporting a possibly wider vocal register/range, it's just great Progressive Art Rock with many hallmarks of that time. Anyways, "Signos" continues on with, again, finally delicious guitarings and an excellent feel. Frisson: Engaged. Another thing I think I'm hearing in this, just slightly, is some of the feel established in much of Rush's late-70s period. Really very cool. And this individual track sits at very nearly 4.75/5.00 in my books [To do the math(s), that means it's "very nearly" a 5/5 haha].

Thunder crashes and rain falls, ushering in "Sueño Infinito" ("Infinite Dream"). With a cool ass name like that, I was hoping for quite a bit more. I mean, they are certainly good at setting the tone--successfully setting for us a scene--even for those of us that don't speak much more than a lick of Spanish. And, at any rate, grateful then to be onto the title track, the 9-minute "Detras Del Umbral" ("Behind the Gate"). Epic, swooping synths here most remind me of Starcastle honestly (I love them; keep up haha). Fit with awesome feel, striking snare hits and huge chord progressions! For a second, my breath was taken away by the rhythmic pause at the start of the verse. The percussion returns about a measure later and I was still unsure how I felt. Some neat vocal effects are implemented as we near minute 3. Organ and synth clash in the midsection, rising and falling in intensity as this apparent battle ensues. We even briefly shift away from what I've assumed was the song's minor key, reminding me happily of Tony Banks' absolute command throughout much of Selling England. Fantastic! The drums keep up the pace as we continue to swirl around within. Continuing on from our battle scene, "La Procesion Interior" ("The Inner Procession") lulls into triumphant half-time, though genuinely it had me asking, 'At what cost?' I keep going back to this, but there's so much tension throughout this album. Definitely one of the keys to the success Detras does have.

A very familiar feeling returns on "Eterno y Fugaz" ("Eternal and Fugacious"; according to Google, fugacious means 'tending to disappear; fleeting'). With a title like that, am I to expect the unexpected, contradiction? The verse and the chords it's married are... just too little to me. Our theme-it-seems returns around minute 6, but... Yeah, no doubt this track, with this epic title, is a huge let-down. "La Batalla" ("The Battle") has a very classic quality about it. I think after "Eterno" I'm not sure I'm feeling so much excitement as this track may deserve. It's good, sure. Maybe 'fine' is a better descriptor. Finally, as the title likewise implies, we have "El Ultimo Ritual" ("The Last Ritual"). Solemn start. The horns of war are sounded with a synthetic swoop (yes, in a good way) and we are flying, met in the sky with keyboard arpeggios, pounding organ and slamming drums. Big'n to close us out for sure.

This album was certainly cohesive and attention-grabbing. It definitely had moments of lesser quality, but I still felt they brought down the overall vibe very little. I said it best after "Eterno": these moments were let-downs, disappointments at worst, not horrendous or terrible or the like. I think this will appeal to fans of their contemporaries, such as The Flower Kings, Echolyn, IZZ, Landmarq and Big Big Train.

A no-longer-as-rare round-up from an even rarer specific True Rate: 3.6/5.0.

[I'm so excited to be listening to this. It's absurd, as I haven't seriously listened to something with the specific purpose of reviewing in just over 2 months. Too long. It was great to get back into things, and I'm hoping for a trend. Gotta get these numbers up haha. Have to overcome my rustiness, in the least.]

Latest members reviews

5 stars Hey, I love Nexus. This album is a masterpiece. I live in Argentina and i'm sure that Nexus never, but never listen Marillion or Cast, hehe. It's really, Gatot. The coincidences are only in your mind. or its casually. This album was the most rated at Nearfest in 2000.... This band was a Nearfe ... (read more)

Report this review (#54594) | Posted by | Friday, November 4, 2005 | Review Permanlink

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