Nooumena - In Memory of a Next World (2006)

Artista: Nooumena
Álbum: In Memory of a Next World
Año: 2006
Género: Avant-prog post metal (o algo por el estilo)
Duración: 35:41
Nacionalidad: Francia

Lista de Temas:
1. ?
2. Strange Awakening
3. Achromasia
4. Color my sorrow
5. Hail to the Anomist
6. In Memory of a Next World

Alineación:
- Maxime Métais / guitarras, saxo
- Simon Toralba / bajo y contrabajo
- Pierre Blin / batería y percusión
Invitados:
Samuel Frin / saxo
Étienne Briand / trombón
Simon Deslandes / trompeta
Jocelyn Debart / violín
Xavier Sichel / saxo alto
Marc Euvrie / violoncello

El sato de esta banda nos fue hacercado por el usuario Sebas en este espacio, la verdad es que tienen un material interesante como prestarles mucho atención, sobretodo aquellos amantes de la música Avant-metal de Kayo Dot y maudlin of the Well ya que el estilo anda por esos parajes, pero también con fuertes influencias de la potencia de Opeth y grupos clásicos como King Crimson o Steve Hackett y hasta de Magma y Dead can Dance, desplegando un ecléctico estilo que va desde el ambient hasta la experimentación extrema.

I'd like to introduce you to Nooumena, an extremely talented young band from Caen, France. Antithetic Records will be releasing their debut album "Argument with Eagerness" on CD in the coming months. Their style is experimental and progressive, and this album is just beautiful. Our good friends at the LURKERS PATH website have put together and excellent album review, complete with an exclusive stream of the first track!
Please have a look at the review, and listen to the track while reading. Let us know what you think! There will be two more songs featured on the upcoming Antithetic compilation album in the next few weeks! Be on the lookout for that as well.
This group of talented musicians hail from Caen, France and they play a very eclectic style of avant prog rock. Trust us when we say that you will be rewarded with each and every repeat listen, as this album is truly amazing. They expertly blend many styles from the great prog and experimental bands both past and present, while adding their own mark as well. You can hear elements of Kayo Dot, guitar work from the great Steve Hackett and Robert Fripp, and time signature and feeling changes akin to Time of Orchids. This is truly a beautiful album!

El disco que presentamos ahora es su ópera prima, ofrecida por los músicos como material gratuito para su descarga en su espacio de Bandcamp. Su segundo disco, llamado "Argument With Eagerness" y lanzado en 2011, ha tenido excelentes críticas, como la que paso a transcribir, aunque todavía no tengo el álbum:

On first listen Nooumena’s ‘Argument with Eagerness’ left me bewildered. The concept of a progressive, experimental album can frequently fall flat on its face. The vision of an idea is often lost when translated into sound. One of the few stalwart examples of success however is Toby Driver’s ever evolving genre-denying outfit, Kayo Dot. From ‘the beginning of tears’ that is Choirs of the Eye to the journey of a terminally ill close friend in Coyote, each record becomes the veritable tour-de-force grouping of idea and sound that remains unreachable to most. Similarly, Deathspell Omega’s triumvirate of discord exploring the metaphysical idea of Satan and his relation to man still represents the pinnacle of the Black Metal movement to date.
Albums of this calibre, that became the watchtowers along my ever winding path of musical understanding, took time to ingest and develop an appreciation for. The scope of sound and idea reached crescendos of feeling I thought impossible in music. These rare moments of being reduced to tears, raised to higher plateaus of elation or deeper understandings of the machinations of the world all left permanent scars on my consciousness. My appreciation took time. I fell in love.
There is a similar story to ‘Argument with Eagerness’. What initially reveals itself as a staggeringly complex array of sounds, moods and contexts slowly unravels its hidden charms on successive spins. Essentially a narrative on an existential crisis between reason and emotion, ‘Argument with Eagerness’ embraces this by including the idea directly in the composition: through structure (symmetry, repetition, circularity), through choice of instrumentation, harmony and production (collage, editing, sampling, synthesis). Nooumena alternate between moments of strict composition and flourishing sections of improvisation. There are hidden numbers and meaningful keys that make manifold appearances. The journey is a constant revamp of expectation, one that successfully plays on your memory and feelings.
Sonically, the summery values that lie at the heart of Kayo Dot’s Choirs of the Eye can be heard amidst the clean, staggered riffs so typical to Time Of Orchids. The seventh track, ‘Somehow’, showcases a Lynchian nightmare, with nods to Angelo Badalamenti. Vocals vary so much throughout the record that pinpointing any reference would be tantamount to lying. Self defined as ‘art-rock, avant-jazz with ambient and metal elements’ and with an influence list longer than my music library, Nooumena arise from the hazy blue French horizon to deliver a piece of music that defies comprehension.
Opener ‘Nameless Reward’ begins as a reverberating, shackled piece of sunshine teetering precariously on the edge of the world. Through coy glances and timid movements, the track builds and gathers momentum as similarities to ‘The Manifold Curiosity’ unfold. Guitars, horns and vocal arrangements each contribute their own exaggerated moments of beauty in the most bizarre unison. Pulverized, open and pushing for a close... and life goes on.
Nooumena take their name from a Kantian notion of thing in itself, free from human perception. It is a way to express what is out of reach of the senses and intellect. It is, ironically, the understanding that the vision of an idea is not equatable to the idea in existence. It is the bridge between having an idea and delivering an idea that so many musicians fail at. Glad thats covered then. Don’t pass up on an opportunity to hear this. You will be left spellbound and speechless in equal measure. For fans of Toby Driver’s back catalogue, Time of Orchids, (the more restrained sections of) Opeth, Angelo Badalamenti – and fans of music from every background.
Every instrument, mood, moment and refrain is linked together by nothing less than wizardry on the part of the band. ‘Argument with Eagerness’ is perfect in every respect. This is simply the most enjoyable and affecting piece of music I have heard in 2011. Expect ‘Argument with Eagerness’ to be released through Antithetic Records in the coming future. The entire album can be streamed below.

Alex

Quizás lo que menos me ha gustado del álbum es la voz, específicamente en las partes donde los gritos estridentes desean destrozar los tímpanos, porque cuando entona está muy bien. Realmente la música que hace esta gente es vanguardista y riesgosa, sus disonancias, percusiones en contratiempo y tormenta musical que convive casi amablemente con el ambient, el jazz, post rock, el progresivo clásico. En todo caso, es un plato que puede ser una aventura y vale la pena probar.
No he encontrado mucho sobre el grupo en la red (salvo esta web con una recopilación de diversos reviews: http://lajeunesse.d.free.fr/?p=1100), veremos si consigo (o si alguien lo hace) encontrar su último y álbum.