CYCLOTHYMIA

The neo-progressive genre has lots of bands releasing albums and very few top tier bands. Numen is a neo-prog group from Spain with an honest bid for that short list of stronger neo albums of the year 2019. Stylisticly I would place the band the closest to Pendragon because of the mild progressive leanings, the generally uplifting vibe and plain vocals by a not-too-gifted, yet very motivated singer. Also the production gave the band an above avarage and full-bodied sound.

The fifteen minute title song 'Cyclothymia' stands out as much darker than the other songs and makes for the most interesting listen. Other highlights on the album are the keyboard solo's by Manuel Mas who really has a knack for finding sweet spots with sound and melody Take for instance his moments early in the titlse song and his atmospheric twist in 'A Cosmic Prayer'. Some of his chord progressions are well crafted. The guitars of Marcos Beviá are clearly inspired by Gilmour and Hackett, yet his lines sound more like improvisations than thought out melodic lines. Still some very competent playing. Vocalist César Alcaraz is a singer most will easily sympathize with, but I guess his pronounciaton of the English lyrics and his obvious hardship in performing the material is this record's main weakness. This together with lyrics that are better not given too much attention. All compositions have some great ideas and I especially like the darker twists of Numen. The overal quality of the album is fairly consistant and it has a pleasant playback and lenght. The album cover looks like one of those heavy psych albums of the late sixties and I guess this album is as much a slightly flawed masterpiece as most of the albums it resembles. That won't bother most listeners of the neo-prog genre, because listeners of Pendragon, Marillion and early Arena will surely find something to enjoy here! Three and a halve for this one.