SHUMAUN

Begins with "A Subtle Invocation" and a direct vocal intro bringing on the raw sound of the group, energetic supercharged metal, quickly identifiable chorus and a groovy riff and its bassist frame. "Prisoners" for an airy pop-rock title that denotes, melodic and a little psyche, like a blue flower; a bit of the 30 'TO MARS, a track to listen to in stadium, oxymoron to the track; intimate, dreamlike and disconcerting. "Memories of Water" sets out again on a muscular tune with melody; the riff sets the scene, the voice adds two tones; the solo is just enjoyable, in short catchy and vitamin, melodic energy. "Jabriel's Song" arrives and recalls an intro of DREAM THEATER, aerial, crystalline, sentimental; it is a beautiful instrumental where the "spleene" guitar runs out of power, where the female voices at the start help to leave; halfway through it starts again pouring in emotion, a moment when Farhad's bluesy solo can recall those of the late Gary MOORE; the finale begins to decline as it stretches out. "Invincible" and its Indian intro, think of BONHAM see LED ZEPPELIN; languid female voices, Thomas' drums add a layer; the rhythm arrives frantic with the aggressive voice, the riff and these oriental sounds in reverberation, the resulting solo squirts and takes on a progressive slope with intermingled voices, a moment worked with a final piano and voice of Tibet; a must. "Under the Sun" for the romantic title, ballad on an ethereal guitar arpeggio; title more pop at the start, falling into a melancholy atmosphere; experimental groovy variation on TEARS FOR FEARS one beat, catchy and dancing harmonic, in short a piece apart by its tempo.

"The Pursuit of Happiness" starts with a structure that RUSH would not have denied, a bit of the "Magnum" series, good guitar on ALDO NOVA, BECK, like jazzy break, SANTANA, oh ROTHERY. It starts again on a well- pronounced melodic metal line for the second remarkable instrumental with striking bass. "Tides" from 2007, updated in 2012, presents itself, shimmering FM rock with its piano coulis that goes so far as to hit its solo; title ballad which flows naturally. "Intuition Underground" and return to greasy heavy rock prog, the vocals more screamed to affirm the direction of the title; the nervous riff, high as on an LED ZEPPELIN at its beginnings, on a DEF LEPPARD, an ALICE IN CHAINS; surely the most conventional song; "Breathing Light" for 9 minutes of progressive derivation: prog metal eyeing Teuton, on FATES WARNING; the well-placed drums which represent the backbone of the song, the soft voice which allows itself to belch at the right time, an anthem which could be found on the ORO of HURLING METAL with its oriental break, soaring, rhythmic, successful; the solo takes you to a prog metal atmosphere, bass à la HARRIS nervous, drums à la PORTNOY- MANCINI, the DREAM THEATER are not far away; melodic return soft and strong at the same time, to keep you alert. "A Planetary Shift" for the syrupy ballad all in turmoil, soft notes, intonation, melancholy title pulling on hope; mid-term rise with a voice à la KHAN and a high and grandiloquent orchestration, also proof that prog can nestle everywhere, even in prog metal. "The Day We Said Goodbye" yes it's over! A repetitive ambient 3rd instrumental as if saying goodbye also means that we will see each other again soon; a variation of guitar notes reminding me of those of GOUVERNAIRE of the IRIS group all supported by an aerial piano like the one on ATOMA; a beautiful condensed trance music ideal to land after this journey without borders because we could also find X-FILES sounds next to these ethereal flakes where the verse surprises by its clarity.

SHUMAUN therefore struck hard with this conventional album at first glance, efficient, technical and enjoyable for any fan of prog metal; beautiful melodies, relaxing ballad titles and prog forays that lead to metal, pop, blues and jazz. Four drummers who give excitement with their technical scores, who make you want to dive back into them for an hour that goes by too quickly, you have to do it .

Musically here we have a band who have been heavily influenced by Porcupine Tree, then bringing the 'Signify' era into a more prog metal state, with the drums especially being incredibly effective. But although there are a great many riffs, loads of technical changes, strong vocals and hooks, for me there is something missing which negates a lot of the good work. It's not that the band are working to a formula, but for some reason I just can't get into this at all, which is quite different to most of the reviews I have seen who are raving over this album as if it is one of the best things they have ever come across. It is clinical, it is clever, but it feels as if there is no soul within it which is incredibly strange given the subject matter. There are some fairly dramatic changes, such as on 'Central Station' with acoustic guitar and emotional vocals, but it just doesn't work for me.

Not a bad album, but to my ears certainly not essential. This is one I highly suggest you listen to before purchase.

The album is a story based concept about two souls that met in a preexistence who were bonded by love, but came down to an earthly body, and only one of them has a recollection of the pre-mortal bond, though that bond is obvious to both.

'Sensus Divinitatis' starts as a soft piano and synth led track and vocals coming in about halfway through as an introduction to the story. The vocals are quite emotionally charged and almost too heavy for the soft intro, but definitely get your attention. A beating heart carries you into the next track which starts with heavy tight drumming and guitar with those strong vocals. The choruses are more mellow and synth driven and this alternates back and forth with a heavy guitar solo in the middle. The music is a bit more complex than standard heavy music which makes it progressive. It's not bad, but there is a frustrating fade out at the end (I don't care for fade outs much).

'Fear is' starts out with a mellow guitar arpeggio pattern and a ballad like vocal, this time toned down emotionally, which sounds more suited for the song. Higher vocals sing in tandem. Electric guitar comes in with a driving and announces a heavier change in the song, but it alternates back and forth from cleaner sounds to heavy sounds keeping things somewhat variable and dynamic. 'Nafsi Ammara' continues with this style. 'City of Gold' however, starts to show some more variation in the style, starting with an atmospheric intro which builds into a march rhythm, but it is only a short, transitory type track. 'Central Station' however takes the transitory tracks cue and is a slower and actually quite lovely acoustic and ballad- like track, but the melody is really good. So is the nice instrumental break in the middle that utilizes strummed and picked guitars together. There isn't much prog about it, but it is nice and not too schleppy.

However, as the album continues, there just doesn't seem to be a lot of progressiveness, to it overall. 'Prove Yourself' is definitely heavier, and actually stays that way throughout. This is more of the sound you would expect from a Progressive Metal band, but since it takes several tracks to really get to that point makes you question whether it belongs in that genre, at least for this album. The song is only 3 minutes, so it doesn't get much of a chance to leave a huge impact on the listener however. 'Go' does continue with the heavier sound however, so that is a plus, but it loses a bit in the progressive end. 'Remember Me and I'll Remember You' goes back to the alternating clean and heavy sound of before. The heavy parts try to get the 'Tool' vibe, but it isn't very convincing with the cleaner sections. There is a decent guitar solo in the middle though.

The 15+ minute title track 'One Day Closer to Yesterday' closes out the album. While the other tracks tend to stay around the 4 to 5 minute mark, this longer track gives one the hope that it can deliver on the progressive side a little better. The first 5 minutes are mostly quite mellow and thoughtful, but around 5 minutes, it goes into a heavier section with a more progressive section with a lot of guitar. At 7 minutes is changes to a more acoustic sound with some sentimental sounding vocals and synths. Though there are some nice melodies and changes here, it still doesn't really bring a real feeling of progressive metal overall. There are good sections and there are mediocre sections.

I like the album well enough, but I don't know if I would consider it groundbreaking or heavily progressive. There are some hints to being progressive though, just like there are sections that could have been considered progressive metal, but the fact that it only steps into that genre from time to time makes it less believable at being that style. I would definitely consider it Hard Rock, but not progressive or metal. It's not a bad album, but it is lacking in some areas, so it's a definite 3 star album.