Anima Mundi - Septentrion (2002)

Artista: Anima Mundi
Álbum: Septentrion
Año: 2002
Género: Rock Sinfónico
Duración: 71:03
Nacionalidad: Cuba

Lista de Temas:
01. Horizonte
02. Por siempre
03. Centinela
04. Caleidoscopio
05. Peregrino del tiempo
06. Más allá
07. La Montaña del Vigia
08. Las Praderas del Corazón
09. Tierra invisible
10. El Hallazgo
11. El Umbral
12. Septentrion

Alineación:
- Roberto Diaz / electric & acoustic guitars, backing vocals
- Virginia Peraza / keyboards, programming, backing vocals
- Ariel Valdes / drums & percussion
- Ariel Angel / basses
- Andremil Oropeza / lead vocals
- Regis Rodrigues / bagpipes, recorder, & whistle
- Anaisy Gomez / bagpipes, recorder, & clarinet

Desde Cuba este grupazo nos ofrece memorables secciones del mejor rock sinfónico, en el único álbum que nos faltaba para completar la discografía.

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"Septentrion" es el primer álbum de estudio de Anima Mundi. Estamos en el comienzo de la mejor banda progresiva cubana de la actualidad. El disco representa un punto de referencia que indica la dirección que tomaría posteriormente la banda, donde sólo los fundadores (Roberto Díaz y Virginia Peraza) forman parte del grupo, tomando en cuenta que en el 2002 el grupo estaba formado por siete miembros y las cancciones eran cantadas en español, con influencias celtas y de música popular presentes en su música. Entre las gaitas gallegas, el clarinete y la flauta, el grupo se debate entre la música instrumental y las canciones cantadas.
La influencia de Vangelis está claramente presente, y debido a la utilización del Hammond su música rememora tímidamente a Nexus. Hay dos canciones instrumentales que están grabadas en vivo, y tienen ambiente y cambios de tempo con variadas influencias de folk. También hay algunas canciones más rimbombantes y majestuosas más al estilo actual de la banda. La canción que da título al álbum está integrada en cinco partes, típico progresivo de América del Sur que se entrelazan con elementos populares de rock.
Hay que escuchar este disco teniendo en cuenta la época en que compuso y grabó, donde se oye a un grupo que está buscando su propio sonido (y bien que lo encontraría un tiempo más tarde).
Y todos aquellos que valoran y gustan de la banda, sabran apreciar esta muy buena ópera prima, no tan buena como los discos que lo precedieron, obvio, pero donde se empezaba a ver los intentos de lo que llegaría a ser esta banda.
Vamos, como siempre, con algunos comentarios:

I´m glad to review this album that i discovered something like 3 months ago, sadly it seems that only a few people knows it, (Erik) but here i am, to share my feel and to suggest it to other people.
It´s a surprise to find this band, i love the fact that every country has at least one or two excellent bands which represent progressive rock, i thought Cuba was really far to have progressive rock bands, but i have found a couple of excellent bands, one of them is "Sintesis" which i wont talk this time obviously, but it´s another great band, and A2nima Mundi" which is why i am here.
I I will tell you a brief history of the band, they started in 1996 with the leader Roberto Diaz after graduating of Musical Composition (guitar was his speciality), and little by little he was gather another friends/musicians during the next 5 years , the majority of them studied deeply some instrument, like clarinet Anais Gomez, or bagpipe Regis Rodriguez, then they were playing and created this album called "Septentrion" which was released in 2002, sadly, due to the departure of Ariel Valdez, the band has had a "stagnation" period since then.
About the album: Okay i wont bore you anymore with those dates, let´s talk about the album. Here you will find 12 songs, the first one "Horizonte" is kind of introduction, and instrumental, in fact there are various instrumental tracks, this first track could sound as a new age track, so dont think that New Age is the way of the album, then "Por Siempre" is another instrumental, but this time we will find the predominative sound of bagpipe, i simply love it, it´s maybe what makes this album unique and special, the song could sound a bit folkish due to that bagpipes, but then when keys and drums appears, you will notice a clear Neo sound.
"Centinela" is the first song which includes vocals, not outstanding nothing special but if you like vocals in spanish you could like it, the song is again plenty of keys and some soft guitars, also i like to sing it. We will find a lot of bagpipe here, it´s the sound or instrument that takes the album, and i like it because it´s something different, i mean we could find bagpipes on Mago de Oz albums or some Metal albums, obviously in some folk music, but in a symphonic band it´s not usua and that´s why i liked this album so much, but be careful, because if you dont like the sound of this instrument, then you will get bored easily.
A beautiful example and song is "La Montaña del Vigia" which is again completely instrumental but sooo enjoyable, i use to repeat that song when the album is over, also it sound a bit gypsy. "Las Praderas del Corazon" is my favorite song, not the best song of the album in my opinion, but i simply love it, i love the sound, the rythm and vocals, here they dont show us their best and most complex creation, but you might like this song. To finish the album we will find 3 excellent songs "El Hallazgo", "El Umbral" and "Septentrion", here we will notice a blend of all their elements , folk and symphonic passages, also in El Umbral we will find the best moment of guitars, trhoug the album there are lots of acoustic and soft guitar sounds, but this time they take the lead role and show us an excellent sound, the last song is excellent, very proggy and never boring, i said this because the album´s lenght is over 70 minutes, i dont like so much albums with more than an hour of music, it´s a personal feeling, when the music is good no matter it´s lenght, but i just wanted to point that if you feel the same, maybe when you arrive to the last 2 songs you could be a bit bored.
Now, i am waiting for Erik´s review and then hope other people giving a chance to it, it´s not a masterpiece, but it´s a great album in my opinion, i like it so much and i will suggest it to you, 4 stars, highly recommendable to any progfan.
Take this trip to Cuba!

Guillermo Urdapilleta

We can enjoy more and more wonderful prog from the Latin-American continent: after Jaen Kief from Colombia and Parthenon from Venezuela, here is Anima Mundi from .. Cuba, in general known because of the sigars and angry words by Fidel Castro about the USA! But back to the music: after Memowakeman his wonderful and elobarate review, I can only add my small contribution in order to support this unique prog. Anima Mundi sounds very melodic and tasteful, this new band makes a good impression on their debut-CD. After a wonderful Vangelis-like keyboard intro, the other 13 compositions deliver an omnipresent bag-pipe sound in pleasant interplay with strong guitarwork (propulsive riffs and sensitive and fiery soli), varied but functional keyboards (except some flashy synthesizer soli) and the high-pitched sound of the tin-whistle flute. De atmospheres alternate between dreamy (with melancholical overtones) and often mid-tempo with a tight beat and warm Spanish vocals. I am impressed by Anima Mundi their music, especially the neo-prog and folk-prog fans will be delighted about this promising band!

Erik Neuteboom

I purchased this CD more than one year ago, actually without knowing anything about this band and having heard one single note from them. My motivation was mainly curiosity since they're from Cuba and I just love to have Prog CDs from all over the world and any exotic country and Fidel Castro's home country isn't really famous for coming Progressive Rock from there. Actually after listening to it a couple of times meanwhile I've to say that it certainly might be exceptional for Cuba but apart from the appealing sound of bagpipes it fails offering me anything exciting. Still the nicer and more enjoyable tracks are the dreamy ones like "Caleidoscopio" for example starting with some bird singing or "Las Praderas del Corazón". But especailly the more mid-tempo ones are sounding too much straight forward and moreover I do not like very much the vocals. The only more up-tempo track I still find enjoyable is the instrumental one "El Umbral" though being anything special neither apart from the bagpipes and moreover quite derivative. Overall the music offered here doesn't reveal much of "real progressive" sense and I could (if at all) recommend this album only to fans of lightweight, melodic NeoProg

Dieter Fischer

The album has recently been made into a free download from their homepage. But I have had it for a long time and have had this review on the backburner for some week. But it is nice to promote one of the best free downloads in the prog rock world these days. Hopefully, this album & band will get a lot of new fans now. I also did an interview with the band 18 months ago and the guys in this band is super guys who deserve our support.
Listening to the opening track, I almost wonder if this band is from Scotland or Ireland. The bagpipes and flutes is dominating. Then the Spanish vocals kicks in and we are back in the real world. But there is no denying that this album has a great Celtic music sound. That and a lot of British prog rock influences. Both symphonic prog aka Genesis and neo prog aka Arena and Pendragon. There is even some ELP influences here. Anima Mundi uses classical music like ELP used it. They also use rock and pop music like Arena used it.
The result is seventy minutes full of great melodies and spicy details. The vocals could had been better. But the rest is superb. This album lacks a killer track or two. But this album is still a great album well worth the kilobytes or even the price when buying the album.
I am really impressed by this album. I am sure the feelings will be shared when more and more download it. In short; get this album.

toroddfuglesteg

Just finished listening to the first album Anima Mundi, Septentrion, 2002. A conceptual album, bagpipes and flutes, musical games to Celtic remains in many places, folk and prog. It was a mistake after having heard excellent The Way. But I have a caveat: I can imagine how difficult it must have been on the island to this album, for the lyrics and the concept that they say: "Septentrión is magnetic north, phone, light the way. The album was conceived as a whole in an attempt to search for ultimate truth, unchanging and eternal. It was a concept album from beginning to end. Each song was an aptitude for ourselves indispensable in the way of life. " In other words, a regime far from the mystical quest. One issue that I did not like, Caleidoscopio, which I think is at odds with the rest. Then I looked good, with very good musical landscapes. Recommended

Miguel Ceraglioli

Un magnífico trabajo perfectamente realizado, una música bella, un disco exquisito como todos los de esta banda (aunque no taaaan bueno como los que lo seguirían), lleno de potencia y virtuosismo, donde todos los instrumentistas se destacan por su concepto musical y la composición, y en la que nos encontramos con sus múltiples influencias. Bueno, con este álbum completamos toda la discografía de esta genial banda que no posía quedar afuera de este blog, ya que lo considero uno de los mejores grupos que ha dado el rock sinfónico latinoamericano.

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