SUPERNOVA

Supernova is an Argentine four piece band with a guest musician on electric guitar in one song (Apocalipsis II). The keyboards sound modern but the flute gives the music a classical undertone. Singer Maria Macaya has a beautiful voice but lacks some power. The first three tracks (between 6 and 10 minutes) are pleasant compositions but fail to keep my attention. The final track is their 'magnum opus' entitled Isis (30 plus minutes), here we can enjoy Supernova in full splendor delivering lots of dynamics, fluent shifting moods, wonderful keyboard orchestrations and strong work on the flute traverse. Their sound is a bit similar to Japanese female trio Ars Nova but less bombastic and virtuosic. If Supernova succeeds to keep the level of the final composition Isis on this CD, I am looking forward to their new album but I have to admit that I don't know or they still exist?

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"Lleva el Brillo del Sol" is Supernova's impressive sophomore effort: one of the most robust Argentinean symphonic prog albums for the new millennium, IMHO. The now quartet (lead vocalist María Macaya is the new member) shows an improvement in terms of interplaying and sound production in comparison to their excellent debut album, which lacked some consistency and diversity in the repertoire's style, despite the brilliance of the musical ideas. Now, things are equally brilliant regarding composition and arrangements: María Macaya's powerful singing really helps the band's sound to gain strength, despite the fact that the instrumental portion are still predominant to a certain degree. Macaya's singing is energetic, indeed, but also full of enough nuances to allow her to fit well into the melodic sensibility of most sung parts. The powerful opener 'El Hipernauta' sets a clear, straight mood for the album's general feel: majestic and moderately complex, it should instantly catch the empathetic listener's attention. The next two numbers, 'Apocalipsis II' and 'Después de Todo', are the ones in which Supernova start to show their most urgent progressive ambitions in terms of structural complexity and melodic richness: the band's focus on recycling the symphonic heritages of Yes, Genesis and 70s Rick Wakeman comes to a robust fruition in these tracks. 'Apocalipsis II' is a new version of a track from the all-instrumental debut album, this time with lyrics. The instrumental 'Después de Todo' bears a more serene attitude, with beautiful pastoral flute lines by keyboardsman Kordon (as a flutist he leaves behind the banks-meets-Wakeman pomposity and turns to van der Lee's candor as a main reference) during the opening section, and playful basic melodies fluidly developed across a 5-plus minute span. Then comes the monster suite, the 34- minute long 'Isis'. Alternating instrumental brief interludes and more expanded sung sections, the thing portrays clear influences from Wakeman, classic Yes and The Enid, with touches of modernized Focus. The orchestral flows of 'Nacimiento' serve as the perfect entrance into the colorful bombast of 'Divinización'. 'El Esplendor' portrays minimalist synth layers with a sort of cinematographic mood, while 'Superciencia' bears an introspective aura. The suite's last section, 'El Viaje de Isis', is set on a slow tempo, which allows the band to provide a constrained climax for both the suite and the album - the choral atmosphere shows how creatively can simplicity be used for good effect. South America has been for the last years a very prolific prog soil, and "Lleva el Brillo del Sol" is one of its most prominent symphonic harvests: Supernova is an item to be considered as a priority by dedicated prog collectors and researchers.

Supernova started their career as an all-instrumental power trio from Argentina, with a clear symphonic direction in their progressive style, full of academic niches, sometimes elegant and subtle, some other times bombastic and pompous, but always rocky and energetic (they have since added a female vocalist to become a quartet): this is what their debut album, 'Uno Punto Infinito', is all about. Though ELP is one major influence, Supernova clearly doesn't settle down to being just a mere ELP-clone. You can also notice some Wakeman-like melodic approach, as well as some obvious hints from MIA (a much celebrated Argentinean keyboard-centered band from the 70's). Supernova keeps loyal to a melodic tradition common to many South American bands: their symphonic sound is actually very rich, due to their complex compositions and well crafted arrangements, and in no lesser degree, due to each individual member's ability to function properly as a part of the whole. The electronic ambience provided by the digital keyboards is at times counterbalanced by effective lines on flute (which may remind the listener of Focus' van Leer). The drummer also uses a bunch of electronic drums, which serves as a complement to the keyboards' wall of sound; meanwhile, Sánchez exhibits his performance skills on a 6-string bass to fill a sensible bridge between the melodies played on keyboards and the intricate rhythm signatures. The tracks' titles show right away the band's intellectual/literary concerns. Three examples: 'Excalibur', 'Apocalipsis II', 'La Náusea' (after Sartre's La Nausée): actually, these are some of the highlights in 'Uno Punto Infinito'. There is also a cover of "Fortuna Emperatrix Mundi", the most popular section from Orff's Carmina Burana. This sort of pretentiousness (I'm not using this term pejoratively) manages to build a sense of correspondence with the material, which is, obviously, very much academically driven. 'Ganso Verde' and 'Supernova' are also quite impressive tracks: on the other hand, the subtle delicateness of 'Dolmen' should not be left behind. The overall result is even in musical terms, despite one minor flaw: the sound production, which sometimes seems to fail to capture the band's strong energy. My formal rating for 'Uno Punto Infinito' indicates that I consider it a great example of well-done symph prog in the contemporary era. This CD was self-produced and independently distributed back in 1998