EN EL COMIENZO DEL TOPOS URANOS

NEXUS are a band out of Argentina that I have had the pleasure of knowing for over ten years. Lalo Huber is the main man here playing a variety of keyboards including mellotron which I must say is more prominent on here then on any of their previous albums I have heard. It's mostly an instrumental affair with some guest female vocals on one track which are brief. Other than having several different bass players over the years the lineup has stayed very consistent. This album fits in nicely with some of my favourites from them like "Metanoia" from 2001 which is my favourite along with "Perpetuum Karma from 2006, and "Buenos Aires-Free Experience, Volumen 2" from 2007.

There's not many albums that I can actually remember a listening experience with but I still remember sitting in my vehicle listening to "Metanoia" in a parking lot and not wanting to get out to go into the store because I was being blown away by the powerful keyboard sounds. I'd say this album is my fourth favourite from them at this point but over time that may change. 4 stars regardless right now. Kind of strange that this band who usually puts out 70 minute albums created a record half that length but then added 3 bonus tracks to bring it up to around 56 minutes.

"El Ultimo Dia" opens in an incredible way with this powerful and haunting atmosphere but soon it's piano only before the drums and synths take over in this uptempo section. The guitar starts to solo before 2 minutes as the synths step back. Synths are back leading the way to the end and we get some mellotron before 3 minutes.

"La Casa Del Invierno" opens with piano only before the mellotron arrives creating atmosphere. Drums and synths after 1 1/2 minutes as the piano and mellotron continue. Guest female vocals before 3 minutes but they don't last long as the guitar arrives in this laid back section. Piano late to end it.

"Un Cristal Bajo El Agua" opens with piano but the mellotron joins in quickly. How good is the organ that follows. Drums and synths too then guitar. Man I love the mellotron in this one and the organ that brings RPI to my mind. It's more powerful 3 minutes in. This is good. Nice bass too. When it settles back after 4 1/2 minutes I'm thinking GENESIS with those synths at first but that changes quickly. More power before 5 1/2 minutes. So good!

"En El Tercer Planeta" opens with spacey synths but very quickly we get this driving rhythm with some killer drum work. Love those synths too. The bass is upfront as well. Great track! "Huellos" opens with what sounds like church organ but then acoustic guitar leads the rest of the way in this short and mellow song.

"Soplo De Vida" opens with synths and guitar before the tempo picks up with the drums joining in. Man I like the sound here. A good hard rocking start. Mellotron before 3 1/2 minutes. It settles around 6 minutes then it builds. Love the upfront bass and keyboards here.

The three bonus tracks are all really good and fit well with the rest of the songs so I'm not sure why they just weren't included as part of the original album but I'm glad they are on here.