NEXUS

During concerts Nexus already played songs from Argentinian prog legend Crusis, but in 2020 the band decided to pay tribute to Crusis in a more extensive way and named the concert En Concierto : Homenaje A Crusis. About Crusis, this band recorded two studio-albums, an eponymous one in 1976 and the highly acclaimed Los Delirios Del Mariscal in 1977.

This 'live in the studio' album features six Nexus songs (the 'uneven' numbers) and five tracks (the 'even' numbers) from these two Crusis studio-albums.

New member Roxana Truccolo is clearly a huge asset to the band, both on bass as with the vocals, in the native language. She does a good job with her voice in the Crusis songs (guitar player Carlos Lucena also sings in some songs, or in vocal harmony with Roxanna), I am also very impressed by the Crusis renditions from Nexus, how inspired and skilled.

Dynamic, tasteful keyboard work, and beautiful native vocals in La Triste Vision Del Entierro Propio (4:46).

Propulsive and bombastic with swirling Hammond, rock guitar with wah-wah, strong interplay and powerful drum beats in the excellent Ironico Ser (4:09).

A Hammond-guitar duet and awesome interplay in Todo Tiempo Posible (4:26).

An exciting wah-wah sound with soaring Hammond, a sensational pitchbend driven Minimoog sounding solo and a moving guitar solo in Abismo Terrenal (6:28).

And finally a dreamy strings sound, then a beautiful blend of an intense guitar solo and soaring Hammond (evoking early Focus) in the compelling track Los Delirios Del Mariscal (7:03). Wow!

And then the Nexus songs, to me this band sounds as one of the best Latin-American prog formations, it is a tight and experienced unit (since 1999!) and Lalo Huber sounds as the Argentinian answer to Keith Emerson and Rick Wakeman. I love his awesome vintage keyboard sound, with his digital Hammond organ, and his Korg synthesizers that sound often mighty close to the legendary Minimoog.

El Ultimo Dia (5:28) : This track alternates between slow rhythms, mid-tempo beats and sumptuous outbursts, embellished with fiery and moving guitar, flashy synthesizers and Mellotron choirs, the rhythm-section is impressive.

La Espiral (2:56) : To me this composition sounds as 'early ELP with guitar', in a tight mid-tempo.

Condenados (8:51) : What a tension between the mellow and bombastic parts, topped with wonderful vocals.

La Tentacion Del Mundo (6:44) : From a slow rhythm to bombastic eruptions, with fat synthesizer flights, volume pedal guitar, dreamy piano and vocals.

Mas alla Del Limite (4:32) : I am blown away by the awesome Hammond sound and fiery guitar leads, in a slow rhythm, how compelling!

And finally the ultra-bombastic instrumental Metanoia (7:52), my absolute highlight on this live session: sparkling Emersonian Hammond work, intense howling guitar (like early IQ), spectacular breaks, a heavy guitar solo and a fat Minimoog sound, topped with excellent interplay, how exciting!

If you listen to this live session you get the best of two different Argentinian eras, from Crusis and Nexus, you cannot beg for more, wow!

Early 2007 I opened a thread on the Forum entitled Is Latin-America Becoming The New Prog Leader?, it turned out to be very well and long-term visited, with lots of positive and interesting comments. The Latin-American prog was a pretty prolific scene in those days and as interesting bands I mentioned Nexus (1999-2024), Amagrama (2004-2005), Jaime Rosas (2003-2022), Angulart (2004), Tarkus (2002-2006), William Gray (2006-2012), Bauer (2004-2017), GALF (2006), Spin XXI (2006), Astralis (2006-2013), Diapasao (2006), Supay (2004-2013), Quaterna Requiem (1990-2012) and R- U Kaiser (2007-2018). As you can see, the only band that recently released an album is Nexus, although Chilean keyboard wizard Jaime Rosas comes close with his 2022 effort.

Back to Nexus, this highly acclaimed Argentinian band has its roots in the Seventies when a group of schoolboys from the capital Buenos Aires was impressed by symphonic rock, especially Crusis (also from Argentina), and soon Nexus was born. Eventually a dream came true but not until the end of the Nineties when Nexus released their first album entitled Detras Del Umbral in 1999 (as a five-piece formation, nowadays a quartet). Since then Nexus has released 7 studio-albums, 2 live albums and a box-set.

For almost 25 years I follow Nexus, since their first album in 1999, during the years I interviewed the band and even wrote the Prog Archives biograpy of Nexus. So I was very curious to this new album featuring Roxana Truccolo as the new singer/bass player, she was already a guest musician on the previous album En El Comienzo Del Topos Uranos, from 2017. To be honest, it surprises me to notice the short running time of both the album (around 36 minutes) as the 8 tracks, between 2 and 6 minutes, no long compositions between 7 and 12 minutes.

Descenso A Las Tinieblas (2:13) First a short instrumental track with a slow rhythm, sumptuous keyboards and fiery guitar runs, it sounds ominous ('tinieblas' means 'darkness'), welcome to the trademark Nexus sound.

Insania (4:40) Another instrumental, it begins with sparkling Grand piano, then a tight mid-tempo beat, fuelled by a dynamic rhythm-section. The title of this track has been musically translated with biting guitar and hypnotizing piano runs, a dark and compelling sound, topped with Hammond layers and synthesizer flights by Lalo Huber, what a master on the keyboards.

Resurgiras (5:57) The longest composition on this new album. First a slow rhythm with the distinctive Nexus guitar- synthesizer interplay. Then soaring Hammond and wonderful female vocals (in the native language, always a bonus to me) with tender piano play, gradually the music turns into more lush with howling guitar and a flashy Minimoog sound. Back to a mellow atmosphere and again gradually more bombastic, embellished with Hammond extravaganza. In the end a subtle fading away with tender piano, what a dynamic track, wow!

La Oscuridad (4:54) Lots of changing atmospheres, varied keyboards (piano, synthesizer, strings), Roxana really shines with her voice (including the 'Spanish Rolling R'), she has a very good range. In the second part moving guitar runs join, then a bombastic climate with an exciting pitchbend driven Minimoog sound (strong Rick Wakeman echoes) and Mellotron choirs, finally tender vocals, and soaring Hammond fading away.

La Sentencia (5:27) This is the most accessible song featuring a tight and powerful mid-tempo beat, and a pleasant colouring with sensitive electric guitar, keyboards (Hammond and Minimoog) and vocals. In the final part the music shifts from melodic rock to 24-carat symphonic rock with a strong instrumental break featuring piano, spacey synthesizers drops, wah-wah guitar and powerful drum beats.

Fuera Del Tiempo (3:48) Another more accessible track in the realm of melodic rock, the focus is on the excellent vocals, topped with a fine duet between guitar and keyboards.

La Nueva Alianza (4:32) This instrumental track is built around a tight beat with catchy electric guitar work, embellished with strong soli on synthesizer, Hammond and guitar.

Iluminación (4:37) The final composition is also an instrumental and a wonderful conclusion of this new album. First a dreamy climate with tender piano and soaring strings, then a slow rhythm featuring sensitive electric guitar work and synthesizer flights, choirs join, wow. Halfway the music shifts to more bombastic with powerful guitar and lush keyboards, and finally slowly fading away, in the end voices of a crowd.

A short but tastefully arranged new album, very melodic and harmonic, and varied, from bombastic symphonic rock to melodic rock. New singer and bass player Roxana Truccolo turns out to be a huge bonus on this new Nexus album, along the excellent work on guitar and keyboards. Top notch Latin-American prog!

Highly recommended, this excellent prog band from Argentina deserves wider attention!

The two lengthy epics are, of course, the main dishes in the menu, and the other two tracks complement the listen well. I like the whole affair, but I'm going to stay, for patience's sake, just with the second epic, La Aventura en el Mar (Adventure In The Sea). The thing commences with a steady drums riff, which can make you think that it's going to be a rather simple tune, a perception emphasised by the nice maritime synth motif. But the same drums turn to a more propulsive pace and promote the increasing instrumental intricacy of the whole band. And the result is a truly rich composition made of contrasting but perfectly assembled sections, in which shine the vintage synthesizers array and the electric guitars, with a different tone and energy in each brilliant solo. A no lesser detail adding variation and textural richness to the instrumental sound, is that there are plenty of acoustic piano and guitar passages, making also for a wide dynamic range, leading the listener's attention from dense to sparse textures, and from tense to relaxed moods. The vocals have a some more restricted presence in the general build-up of this towering suite, but lending anyway the unique tone that only human voice are capable of, and that is absolutely essential to set the particular emotional vibe required by characters lost in a limitless seascape.

As I already said, this sounds like a proper studio album to me, and having no noticeable flaws, I have to go for a major rating, which, given creativity transcending influences into consistently amazing ideas, has to be five stars.

I think the main novelty here is the coming of Roxana Truccolo, the new bass-player and vocalist. She can not only sing, but in addition is bringing with her, alongside a register fitting the Symphonic enterprise, a new vocal timbre to enrich the particular gothic shades that are so lovable in Nexus sound. And, as a bassist, her coupling with Nakamura's drums is just impeccable.

Being Lalo Huber a retro synth wizard, it can hardly be a surprise that the entire record is immersed in vintage sounds, even when they don't detract from an overall feel that is firmly rooted in contemporary times. But the really good news is that he kept also a space and a role for his gorgeus touch with the acoustic piano. Listen to Track 5, La Sentencia (The Conviction), and you will find it there, adding difference to this unique sounding piece, masterful in its 5+ minutes.

The sense of flow continues seamlessly from beginning to end, and the only resource I can find to point out a particular part of the album, besides the already mentioned track, is to say that I prefer the second half over the first, probably because it's there where the music comes up, that is more appealing to the melodic junkie in me.

But the entire album is fantastic, and if you are a symphonic aficionado, you can just jump in right from the very outset and be happy for the next thirty-six exquisite minutes.

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.]

"Aire", however, is more laid back and vocal-centric than those albums. If you don't like hearing vocals in non-English, you might hate this album. I'm on the fence. Many of the vocals and lyrics seem to be rooted in traditional Argentinian songs, but set in a progressive music backdrop. The vocal performance is nice enough -- it is not overly accented, affectual, gospelly, screamy, or otherwise overdone. It is simply nice, melodic vocals. At times, I am reminded of the vocal performances of the Polish band Lizard (prior to the album "Master & M"), which are sung in Polish, but in such a way that they're not grating on my nerves.

And while there are some sensational proggy music bits, notably track 1 (which has some nice keyboard-driven symphonic prog madness), and track 5 (which seems to be unsure whether to settle into 5/4 or 6/4 time signature), for the most part, I would call this a vocal-centric album.

If you're not into that, flail you're arms above your head while you run screaming from the room -- this albums not for you. Me? I'm OK with it. Just OK.

There's not many albums that I can actually remember a listening experience with but I still remember sitting in my vehicle listening to "Metanoia" in a parking lot and not wanting to get out to go into the store because I was being blown away by the powerful keyboard sounds. I'd say this album is my fourth favourite from them at this point but over time that may change. 4 stars regardless right now. Kind of strange that this band who usually puts out 70 minute albums created a record half that length but then added 3 bonus tracks to bring it up to around 56 minutes.

"El Ultimo Dia" opens in an incredible way with this powerful and haunting atmosphere but soon it's piano only before the drums and synths take over in this uptempo section. The guitar starts to solo before 2 minutes as the synths step back. Synths are back leading the way to the end and we get some mellotron before 3 minutes.

"La Casa Del Invierno" opens with piano only before the mellotron arrives creating atmosphere. Drums and synths after 1 1/2 minutes as the piano and mellotron continue. Guest female vocals before 3 minutes but they don't last long as the guitar arrives in this laid back section. Piano late to end it.

"Un Cristal Bajo El Agua" opens with piano but the mellotron joins in quickly. How good is the organ that follows. Drums and synths too then guitar. Man I love the mellotron in this one and the organ that brings RPI to my mind. It's more powerful 3 minutes in. This is good. Nice bass too. When it settles back after 4 1/2 minutes I'm thinking GENESIS with those synths at first but that changes quickly. More power before 5 1/2 minutes. So good!

"En El Tercer Planeta" opens with spacey synths but very quickly we get this driving rhythm with some killer drum work. Love those synths too. The bass is upfront as well. Great track! "Huellos" opens with what sounds like church organ but then acoustic guitar leads the rest of the way in this short and mellow song.

"Soplo De Vida" opens with synths and guitar before the tempo picks up with the drums joining in. Man I like the sound here. A good hard rocking start. Mellotron before 3 1/2 minutes. It settles around 6 minutes then it builds. Love the upfront bass and keyboards here.

The three bonus tracks are all really good and fit well with the rest of the songs so I'm not sure why they just weren't included as part of the original album but I'm glad they are on here.

1. "El Ultimo Dia" (6:13) nice, tight performances and some okay melodies wasted on a song with too little substance or purpose. (7.5/10)

2. "La Casa Del Invierno" (5:18) nice neoclassical piano opening turns sappy, syrupy at 0:45. Guitar entry is welcomed and nice. Unfortunately, the syrupy melodies and feel continue. At 2:02 there is an awesome key change that opens the door for some nice synth-midi soloing before everything cuts out leaving a very spacious soundscape for the whispery voice of Roxana Truccolo. The instrumental section that follows sounds like pure CAMEL--even the key/chord changes. At 3:53 we're back to the instrumental chorus section--which builds into a very full (classical piano flourishes in the background!) soundscape before it all ends. (8.5/10)

3. "Un Cristal Bajo El Agua" (7:42) piano and Mellotron open this song briefly before a lively organ establishes a NEXUS sound. Things slow down as drums and bass keep pushing us forward while piano, guitar, and organ take turns soloing. Nothing so extraordinary yet. Begins to feel familiar like a circus chase scene soundtrack. Things slow down in a bombastic way in the fourth minute with wild synth soloing coming somewhat from the background (behind the drums and bass). The drumming drives me to distraction--I just can't enjoy the other instruments. (7.5/10)

4. "En El Tercer Planeta" (4:46) driving spy soundtrack theme opens and propels this one from the start. Various synths and electric guitar carry the melody and power over and above the rhythmatists. Dynamic shift in the third minute allows for an emotional electric guitar solo to shine. At 3:15 it really breaks down to basics with pounding piano and then chunky bass before gearing back up into third gear for an organ solo. Soloing synth takes us to the end. (8/10)

5. "Huellos" (2:49) Organ! Church organ! This is cool! But, no! Lalo fades into the void so that Carlos can do a classical piece on his acoustic's nylon strings. Very pretty but I would have loved to have heard more of Lalo's organ--with or without the guitar. (8.5/10)

6. "Soplo De Vida" (9:10) as in the third song of the album, this one opens up with guns firing at full speed. There's a bit of a RUSH-like sound and feel to the bass lines in this one. Meanwhile guitars and synths are screaming at and over one another for two minutes before there is a short break. We soon return to the speed limit, this time in an odd time signature as synths and guitars continue their trailblazing. At 3:30 we again switch time signatures until everything falls into a brief drum-and-bass-less lull (recharging their batteries, no doubt) before returning to the opening pace and cadence. This is really a masterfully constructed and performed piece of prog complexity. The true lull in the sixth minute has a kind of meditative, clandestine feel to it--as if we temporarily ran into a church for some peace and solace. As we break back out into the sun the hero feels depleted, as if the pace of the first two third has taken its toll and now, despite brief flourishes into action and adventure, the pace is much more proscribed, controlled, yet still steady, still driven. Excellent prog epic! (9/10)

- Bonus Tracks : 7. El Color Que Cayo Del Cielo (7:02) 8. Heliotropo (5:17) 9. Los Sacerdotes Malignos (7:24)

I'm not sure why the bonus tracks are separated in the credits even though they are included in the "total time" calculations, perhaps because the 36-minute body of the main six are a little shy of a full album. Still, the band has pulled it together again. But I have to admit, they're feeling a little old (especially in the drums but overall).

Four stars; a nice addition to prog world from some seasoned masters.