ALBA - LES OMBRES ERRANTES

1. "Who Wakes Up From This Dream Does Not Bear My Name" (11:10) great sound, great music, diminished by the weak vocals. Reminds me a lot of a gentler, better recorded AGALLOCH. (17.5/20)

2. "Cuarto Del Alba" (7:11) several sections of film dialogue within the softer sections of music, in Bolivian Spanish and French! (13.5/15)

3. "L'ombre Érrante" (2:07) piano and synth interlude (4.5/5)

4. "Night On The Petrified Sea" (10:58) the voice of the Spanish-speaking female narrator over the first 85 second of the song make one fully aware that this album was intended as a soundtrack to a film or story. The music that follows is excellent--especially the acoustic guitar work. Even the singing is pretty good here. The song builds toward the end of the fourth minute until a slide guitar solo takes over the lead at the 4:05 mark. Vocal "ahhs" are nice as are the delicate harmony vocals in the next section. Another narration passage in the eighth minute leads into a slightly more dynamic instrumental section before almost music drops out for a different female narrator--this one in French--speaking over some very eerie, unsettling ambient music. (18/20)

5. "The Wandering Shadows" (7:33) percussions and strings open this one before the full band joins in with a gorgeous motif and vocal melody. The instrumental sections between the vocal sections are even better. The French dialogue inserted in the quiet places makes it even more interesting for the contrasts. And then singing in English in the second verse followed by another gorgeous instrumental section during the fourth minute. My favorite song on the album. (15/15)

6. "Los Heraldos Negros" (10:21) quite a dynamic and moody piece, changing pace and tones several times over the course of its ten minutes while displaying the guitarist's Spanish guitar virtuosity. Up till the seven minute mark when the spoken soundtrack joins in there is an amazingly stressful sense of the pressure or at least presence of Time pushing the song (and the listener) along. It's really difficult to explain, but it's there and it's disturbing. Amazing! My other top three song. (19/20)

7. "Ojos Azules" (3:06) gorgeous layered acoustic folk music over which multiple voices sing in equally gorgeous harmonies. Another top three song for me. (10/10)

8. "Calling" (4:08) drums, bass, and electrified dobro-sounding guitar open this one before multiple layered vocals burst in singing in English. Amazing how multiple languages are used with such facility throughout this album. (9/10)

9. "Agua" (1:59) high pitched synth drone over which echoed acoustic guitar is played. (4/5)

10. "Light Of Desert And The Shadows Inside" (15:33) Ulver-esque (26.25/30)

Total Time 74:06

I must admit, this music is gorgeous and as a film soundtrack I'm quite impressed and awed by this effort and production. I've said it before: This is the kind of purpose I feel progressive rock music has always served well.

A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of folk-inspired progressive rock soundtrack music.