NEXUS

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.]

I remember that I discovered this album and went without thinking to my room to listen to it with the light off and with headphones, not knowing that one of my most beautiful musical journeys would come. It begins with a bell (triangle?) Flickering, and the sound power evoked by the instruments gradually picks up. If there is a main weak point of the album I would say that it is the voice. Mariana's color is not bad, but I feel that this work needed a stronger voice, perhaps masculine. A voice similar to Gilmour's or Lake's would have come in handy, but with powerful vowels that are not hesitant enough. The album is a box of surprises that make you smile constantly. Very clear influences from Pink Floyd (The Division Bell) and ELP, with those synthesizers and elevator keyboards.

Nexus caught my ear due to the tremendous keyboard work of Lalo Huber. At times, I hear elements of Keith Emerson, Yuka Funakoshi (of Yuka & Chronoship), Rick Wakeman, and even Eddie Jobson. The albums "Metanoia" and "En El Comienzo del Topos Uranos" are loaded with bombastic progressive keyboard passages -- the former having some vocals in Spanish, and the latter, no vocals at all.

"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.

NEXUS are a band out of Argentina that I have had the pleasure of knowing for over ten years. Lalo Huber is the main man here playing a variety of keyboards including mellotron which I must say is more prominent on here then on any of their previous albums I have heard. It's mostly an instrumental affair with some guest female vocals on one track which are brief. Other than having several different bass players over the years the lineup has stayed very consistent. This album fits in nicely with some of my favourites from them like "Metanoia" from 2001 which is my favourite along with "Perpetuum Karma from 2006, and "Buenos Aires-Free Experience, Volumen 2" from 2007.

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.

Lalo Huber and company are back again with another collection of top notch prog songs in their hard-driving, dynamic symphonic style.

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.

The band continues their streak of some big symphonic prog rock music dominated by the sweeping keyboards of Lalo Huber who define the special sound of Nexus with that special spacey "high note" on the keys giving a joyful atmosphere to the music. The man is carrying the melody dramatically like some old 70's bands of the past but in his unique way who must reflect his Argentina influence. The closer I can think is the music of Cast, but here in his instrumental version with a lot of piano and keyboards interplay. THe music can have his darker moment but it's always very short. "En El Tercer Planeta" is the first track where the guitar of Carlos Lucena is stealing the spot of Lalo with a nice break at the end with those captivating keyboards lines. "Huellos" is a beautiful exotic and acoustic guitar song well placed in the middle of the album. "El Color Que Cayo Del Cielo" is another great track and a change of mood. "Los Sacerdotes Malignos" present some interesting special effects and some effective melody lines again to close this nice album. Is this band can do a bad album? No, because the musicians have the talent for songwriting and if it's bombastic nature and heaviness can offend some prog rock fans, I am all for it.

I woke up in a dream, seeing that the world was not eternal ... I wanted to scream and claim my faith demanding an answer (Despertar dentro de un Sueño)

I met Nexus in 1999 when I saw IQ in concert, on tour presenting the great Subterranea, in a small theater in Buenos Aires. Only "Cerca del Abismo" had seen the light by that time. Honestly, I was not a good impression looking to 2 or 3 songs that the group executed, plus the sound was not good. Mariela Gonzalez's role as head of the band seemed too overplayed. But I was surprised to know quite a while that first three Nexus works have received critical praise, and I started listening to this compact and exciting conceptual work.

Finally, Metanoia conquered me. The Spanish is my mother tongue, and I feel identified with a lot of lyrical passages, passionately sung by Mariela. But I understand that it is difficult to empathize in the concept, because I myself was not easy, as my primary language.

The music is exquisite, with the necessary range, and transiting varied shades of symphonic rock and even neo. The arsenal of keyboards, organ, sequencers is captivating, exceptional. Rightly decorating each passage. Obviously, there is a great deal of influence, perceptible. But IMHO, there is enough inspiration and originality to highlight the album. One of the best of South America in the past decade in the genre.

Mariela left the project and joined the ranks of Atempo, participating in the great "Abismos del Tiempo". Still, the next album, "Perpettum Karma" is also an outstanding job at the same musical height.

For five years Nexus would be absent from studio discography and there were some serious reasons for the fact.First came the departure of Mariela Gonzales, who struggled working with a band with long, instrumental parts.She went to join fellow mates Atempo in 2002.Then Daniel Ianniruberto became pretty busy, producing the first album of a young band named Amagrama.Meanwhile the members were working on their new, own recording studio and had accepted the invitation for producing a true epic piece (''El regreso'') for Musea's 2005 compilation ''Odyssey: The greatest tale''.It was the first new piece recorded by Nexus for almost four years, soon to be followed by their third studio album ''Perpetuum Karma'' in 2006.The band had recruited Lito Marcello to take care of the album's vocal parts.

With each work Nexus become more and more ambitious, but this time they also sound more mature and balanced as a group of musicians.72 minutes of grandiose Symphonic Rock and containing only six tracks, you guessed right, three of them are 14 minutes or longer.The compositions are simply great, finally the band had transformed a full potential to reality and every single minute on this album has something interesting to offer.They are still grounded in the E.L.P./RICK WAKEMAN school of Symphonic Rock with an ARENA atmosphere at moments and the album is dominated by multi-layered synthesizers and powerful Hammond organ with limited contribution by Huber on piano and Mellotron.But after three studio albums they found the way to create monumental Progressive Rock, filtering the vintage influences and adding the right dose of modern stylings.So, the basic elements of these epics are Huber's tormenting organ showering, the ability to produce dramatic passages, the alternation between heavier and smoother climates and the good calibration on electric guitars.The result is now convinving, the pieces contain a fair amount of interesting melodies and some cool synth flights with an ethereal color, but the band never forgets the 70's and the big influence of KEITH EMERSON, fullfilling the dreams of all worldwide organ lovers.The music becomes often powerful, nervous and cinematic, but the new balance displays also some impressive downfalls into dreamy and atmospheric textures.Maybe the album is only a bit too long, while Marcello's vocals are rather colorless with no particular contribution to the upgraded sound of the band.

From good Symphonic Rock Nexus rise towards first-class priorities.Even if they do not sound personal or groundbreaking, ''Perpetuum Karma'' is a great addition for all fans of keyboard colors and symphonic-based listening experiences.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

With this album I met NEXUS, an Argentinian prog band which plays an astounding symphonic prog. Metanoia is a reminiscent of many classic bands and their particular sound of the seventies. I'm talking about three in special, Pink Floyd (which is clearly noticed in the opening and closing track 'Eterna Recurrencia' 1 and 0 with the song 'Echoes'), Genesis, ELP and Yes (in the rest of the album, with strong keyboard movements and good guitars, bass and drums. I must say that I like the voice of Mariela González, who remarks the music and makes it completely different to their classic influence bands. I can't deny that the first track made me feel I was about to listen something like Porcupine Tree, but then the music starts to take another direction. Incredible album, definitely one of the best Latin American albums.

Nexus is without hesitation one of the most popular and respected prog rock bands from South America in last almost 2 decades. They really become to conquer the world with their second offer Metanoia from 2001, that album show big potential and excellnt songwritting. The third album comes after almost 5 years silence face previous one (ok, they had some contribution in compilation The Odyssey The Greatest Tale in 2005, relase a live album in 2002) is named Perpetuum karma issued in spring of 2006. Well, the music remaining on same coordinates as on Metanoia, with bombastic passages, great duels between musicins, excellent songwritting, the only thing different is the voice, no more Maria Gonzalez here, she had a perfect voice for such music, now we have Lito Marcello, who has a pleasent voice but not really at same level with the music or with previous voice, but he done an admiirable job in the end. As I said, Nexus music is symphonic prog, quite complex, long pieces, lush arrangements where the keyboards have an important role Lalo Hubers excursions on keyboards is in places impressive (many times remind me of Keith Emerson), Hacketian guitar parts captivating passages, change of moods and overall a well performed release. Maybe not as solid as Metanoia, I do still prefere Metanoia more, Perpetuum karma is a very solid and well crafted pieces of prog rock. The highlights are , the instrumental Travesía, is a spedndid 9 min tune full of captivating and spontenous changes of climate, excellent musicinship , a real treat for symphonic prog listners, another top notch track is the opening Mirar hacia el centro , the longest tune from the album and maybe the most complex one, this is Nexus at their best for sure. All in all Nexus is one hell of a great band they have all to be one of the next legends in their field, with Metanoia and Perpetuum karma they proved and show that they need attention big time. 4 stars for sure