JAGANNATH ORBIT

A prog band from Cuba? Wow, this is new! I was intrigued enough to get their second CD. I was expecting some strong latin influences and maybe a little salsa or rumba to be included. Well, Not so much. There are indeed some hints of those, but in very, very small doses. Anima Mundi is a symphonic prog outfit in the stronget sense of the word, and making no secrecy of their main influence. In fact, they seem to worship Yes above all things and some parts of their music does remind strongly of their Relayer period (sometimes a little too much). But they´re not copycats. They are very talented, skillfull and deserve to receive some more atention.

The production is very good. The vocals are ok, not very outstanding, but not annoying either (in the style of... Jon Anderson, of course!). On the other side, the instrumental parts are terrific and the record is a mostly intricated, complex, melodic, tapestry of sounds. Great, powerful and dreamy keyboards parts are the dominant factor on all tracks, but the rest of the band are not far behind. There are no fillers and the songwriting & arrangements are tasteful and very well done.

Conclusion: Jagannath Orbit is very strong and pleasant album. Even if they have not developed their own style completely yet, they´re surely on the right path. A hard album to rate. I´d be giving them 3,5 stars, but they are good enough to make me round it up to 4. Very promising! I´m looking forward to hear their next works.

A new and great Anima Mundi sound!

For those who are not familiar with this band called Anima Mundi, well let me tell you that first of all you will be surprised because they are a band from Cuba, nowadays it is not common to hear a prog band from that part of the globe, so that simple fact led me to discover the band few years ago when they released their first album entitled "Septentrion", which was a symphonic (with hints of Neo) prog album with a very original and unique style due to the predominant use of bagpipes, and vocals in Spanish.

Last year (2008) they at last released their second album, an album which I was really looking forward to listen to, and whose sound is different from their Septentrion sound, here we will find some different things and nice surprises. The name of this record is "Jagganath Orbit" which is produced by Roberto Díaz, leader of the band and a very nice person who I've been in contact with, the running time is over 65 minutes of great music divided in 7 tracks.

Jagganath Orbit kicks off with the longest song of the album, which named "We are the Light" is reaching almost 18 minutes, and a track that shows the band's step forward and their new sound. It starts with a melodic and spacey background, some piano here and there and other noises, after the first minute keyboards enter along with drums and the other instruments making a clear 90´s symphonic sound ala Spock´s Beard in some moments, then, vocals enter and this was my first surprise, they decided now to sing in English, they do it and sound good, but I personally prefer bands singing in their native language. There is a great instrumentation I like a lot the background during this epic, there are also a sitar sound and some nice guitar riffs. The song has some comes and go's, small musical changes inside it, a predominant keyboard sound and a great progressiveness. The second half of the song has some acoustic guitars and a calmed rhythm, it is not the bombastic keyboard sound, it is more melodic. But then, the initial style returns and the rest of the song continue like this.

The second track is "The Awaken Dreamer in the Soul Garden Dreams the Flower Planets", a long name to a shorter song that has a mid tempo rhythm with some guitars, and after a few moments it turns into a softer and calmer song, with synth effects like the sound of air and a spacey feeling inside it, an instrumental song, another nice surprise.

"Toward the Adventure" has some synth effects that make me feel like being walking in an unknown place, then the song becomes stronger with the help of guitars and other instruments, this time the vocals return, this track is very good but not my favourite though I enjoy the changes they do during the song.

"There's a Place not Faraway" keeps the same line of the previous song, I mean the musical direction and style is very alike, even the running time of both songs just have a one minute gap, the vocals sound very sweet in moments, and the guitar solos with a constant drumming sound and of course the keys as background make this a very good song, though a bit catchy, but it does not lose its essence.

Suddenly, you may thing the same song its running but actually there is a new track, the title track "Jagganath Orbit" (In the Orbit of Love) that lasts 11 minutes with again some time and mood changes through it, but following the same album's style, I mean there are some moments on the song that reminds me to previous tracks, in other words I believe there are some repetitive or unnecessary moments, though the song as a whole is very good actually.

The next song "Rhythm of the Spheres" starts with a didgeridoo sound, then keyboards and small changes, then guitar and drums, and then again some softly and well placed keyboard sound, I have to admit that in some moments the reminded me to Flower Kings, well, the song structure is always building up something, so you can be there listening to the track and enjoying what you are listening to, because the music maintains you there, expecting something. After 5 minutes, the song makes a little stop, those spacey effects and noises appear again. Some minutes later the song changes again, and due to some great sounds they produce, in my opinion the song is becoming better and better through the minutes. Probably my favourite track of the album, beautiful.

And finishing, we have "Sanctuary", the last 5 minutes of the album are filled with nice symphonic prog, and honestly this again reminds me to TFK, nice song anyway.

There is a point that I noticed since the very first listen, because I believe it's obvious, and it is the lack of bagpipes, I mention this because in their first record what made me love the band was their unique and original use of bagpipes in their music, I must admit I missed it a lot in this album.

Jagganath Orbit, is a very good album actually, it does not matter if they changed their sound, I believe the production is great and their new musical style is good as well, I like the album very much and I consider it is very complete and consistent, though right now I still prefer the Septentrion sound, I am also pleased with Jagganath Orbit, and since now I am looking forward to their next release. My final grade, 4 stars, take a look to the Caribbean prog, there are worth listening bands.

Enjoy it!!

While in the middle of a good lengthy hiatus of, well, pretty much everything, coupled with high school graduation, preparation for college and constant practicing as a drummer, I figured it'd be time to clean out my computer of music I didn't like that i downloaded for some reason because I thought I would like it. That's where I stumbled upon this album.

After having brief plays of their debut album, I wasn't much of a fan of Anima Mundi. My immediate thoughts were ones of "Here's just another prog band optimistic of finding success in that small niche market of symphonic prog, to which there's already so much competition for. Give them a few years and they'll have disbanded and gotten jobs at supermarkets in a large industrial city."

The interesting thing is, though....they haven't.

While Septentrión wasn't perfect (obviously giving the fact that the production wasn't going to be much good anyway given this small group of guys live in Cuba, which is, last time I checked, still technically a Communist country), it was lively and cheerful. You could hear the optimism out of lead singer Andremil Oropeza. It was a happy and lively album, yet it still felt like a cookie-cutter prog record, something you've probably heard countless times over and over again. Not to be pessimistic, but I really thought that was going to be the end of the road for these guys.

Yet just a little over six years later, they come back strong with this record, Jagannath Orbit.

"We Are The Light" immediately kicks you into a different sense of perspective. All of a sudden, these guys have transformed from average happy-sounding prog rockers into full fledged craftsmen in the art of progressive music. Instantly the scene is livened by a stronger cultural influence, which I felt was missing in the last record. Not that it was lacking, but it was just covered up behind the guitars and synth. It seemed like these guys were trying to be too mainstream, just to get some attention, considering their place on the world map.

The opening track does well to immediately bring the bassoon, bongos and other cultural drums out into the spotlight, and the production is much clearer this time. The happy and lively atmosphere is still there, but now it feels like these guys have experimented more, resulting in little skits like the piano/clarinet ditty about twelve and a half minutes into the piece. The band also sounds much tighter, more together, even have a whiff of metalic grunt to their arsenal.

Yet when I play "The Awaken Dreamer", it sounds too new-agey to me. It literally sounds like it was copied and pasted from Septentrión onto this record. There's nothing on this track to keep me excited, more or less keep me awake. In fact it just sounds like four minutes added to the end of "We Are The Light".

Then "Toward The Adventure" thrusts me back to their new sound, albeit abbreviated to a six minute tune. The progressive nature comes back in stunning fashion, slowly etching out to some naturial sounds, ebbing and flowing into the glorious organ intro of "There's A Place Not So Faraway." This track seems to be another reminder of the happy-go-lucky, fairyland sounds of the aformentioned debut album, except with a bit more maturity in the composition and the build of the actual song structure. Instruments like the clarinet, bassoon and recorder keep the cultural influence always present, while adding an extra flare to the creativity of the music.

The title track begins, familiarly enough with a atmospheric intro, except with a march style, and, weirdly, bagpipes. Ok..... Either way, it's another intriguing introduction to another one of the records longer songs. Weirdly, however, it's a song that, when I listened to it, I sort of forgot that is was playing, which meant that it wasn't really that interesting, yet it wasn't obviously boring enough for me to turn it off. Only when the track started to climax a bit with roughly three minutes left did I come back to reality. It's a strange twilight zone track of creativity and boredom at the same time. Even listening to it again, now, I struggle to put it into words.

"Rhythm Of The Spheres" begins in a promising fashion, with a highly obvious progressive intro, coupled with, of all instruments, a didgeridoo, and another atmospheric, high-above- the-clouds synth line. In all honesty, one track of that was nice, but an entire album full of it? Not exactly my sort of thing. Yet, despite this, it's still a pleasant disc to listen to. Even the familiar, "second verse, same as the first" closer "Sanctuary" still has a nice feel to it.

Obviously, if you're into the happy, tree-hugging, save-the-world, rainbow-loving, peace-on- earth-and-good-will-to-all-men, yes, this is the perfect album for you. Yet, I'm pretty sure that even the most eco-friendly maniac of us all will get a bit tired of this type of music at some point in time. In short, it's good stuff, but in moderation. I couldn't listen to the entire album without having the urge to kick a small, defenseless puppy.

I'm not a cruel person, but if you had a choice to listen to this album all day or nails on a chalkboard all day, for the love of god, I'd pick the chalkboard. It's a great album. I just wouldn't be caught dead with this album on play, anywhere.

While preparing for their second album, Anima Mundi entered their most difficult period with musicians leaving the group and new faces jumping on board.This fact resulted to no less than 5 years of recordings.In 2005, in a surprising move, Roberto Diaz recruited a new rhythm section from the Death/Thrash Metal band Agonizer, Osvaldo Vieites on drums and Yaroski Corredera on bass.The new album ''Jagannath orbit'' was recorded with both Ariel Valdes and Osvaldo Vientes on drums, but by the end they both quit to be replaced by Jose Manuel Govin.All vocals were delivered by a new singer, Carlos Sosa, and the work was eventually released in 2008 on Musea.

Worth waiting indeed, this new album finds Anima Mundi entering the path of modern Symphonic/Progressive Rock, as proposed in the past by THE FLOWER KINGS and SPOCK'S BEARD.The question rises, was the Prog scene in need of another THE FLOWER KINGS imitator?The answer is yes, if the music is so well-crafted and executed.With three out of seven compositions taking 3/4 of the album, Anima Mundi offer a bombastic, grandiose and rich Symphonic Rock, full of flashy arrangements, pounding rhythms and delicate melodies, featuring another fantastic performance by female keyboardist Virginia Peraza and the nice, electrified guitar moves of Diaz.The music can get very powerful at moments with sharp synths and Classical inspirations, a bit like JAIME ROSAS, while a nice armour of keyboards, including organs and Mellotrons, is used, with evident blinks to the glorious times of YES and GENESIS.There are also some super-symphonic moments with a similar sound to British early 80's acts such as QUASAR or PROTOS, led by impressive, atmospheric soundscapes.Add a very good vocalist with a decent delivery of the English vocals and you are close to taste Anima Mundi's dense and dynamic musicianship.A special reference should be made for three long compositions of the album, which are carefully structured with tons of good melodies and sudden changes of an excellent inspiration.

Beautiful, well-crafted and energetic Symphonic Prog by the Cubans.Recommended to all fans of THE FLOWER KINGS, MOON SAFARI, SPOCK'S BEARD or MARS HOLLOW...3.5 stars.

Anima Mundi are a symphonic prog band from Cuba, though if you search for them on iTunes, you'll find another band of more experimental and eclectic sounds with the same name. The Cuban band has been around since the mid-nineties and released four studio albums, the first in Spanish and the others in English.

In an interview I read with keyboardist Virginia Peraza, she explained the great difficulties facing a band from Cuba: recording studios not being on par with those in more advanced countries, equipment often being bought second or third hand, and restrictions on what foreign music is permitted in the country. If I recall correctly, it was after this album, "Jagannath Orbit" that a Russian label picked up the band and they got a lot of promotion in Europe and went over to play in some music festivals. From then on, the band's fortunes changed as their music became better known internationally.

According to song writer and band leader Roberto Diaz, the band wanted to play music like the grand symphonic prog bands of the seventies but also have a strong spiritual message in their music. The name Anima Mundi comes from a concept by Plato and means Spirit of the World. True enough, their music is similar to what Jon Anderson- led Yes could produce but somehow even grander and more uplifting.

The Wikipedia article on the band describes their music as a combination of, "symphonic rock, new age, Celtic, space music and traditional Cuban influences". That's a very accurate description of "Jagannath Orbit" to be sure. The band really covers all bases with grand symphonic prog passages, atmospheric and spacey moments, lively rocking parts, and one or two world music segments. You can't miss the didgeridoo in "Rhythm of the Spheres".

For a band who hail from a relatively poor country, their guitar and keyboard sounds fill all the expected sounds for a major prog band. Peraza's sound pallette includes a variety of synthesizer sounds, piano, organ, and Mellotron. Diaz's vocals suit the spiritual and optimistic lyrics very well, not an Anderson copy but he could have been a good choice as a Glass Hammer vocalist. In fact, though Yes and Glass Hammer comparisons are easy to make, I don't feel that Anima Mundi are trying to emulate those bands. The guitars, bass, and keyboards are in the style of those bands; however, I never feel that I'm listening to a Steve Howe or Chris Squire clone, unlike say Cathedral. Anima Mundi have captured the essence of a spiritually inspired symphonic prog band and managed to sound most like themselves.

If you like big, bold, and grandiose symphonic prog with some laid back atmospheric moments, Anima Mundi are worth looking into. They do the job very well, at least on this album and from what I've heard on the next album "The Way". They do long, multi-part songs very well, never relying on any one particular musical theme to carry the song for long. This is busy and excited music but doesn't sound like a medley either where transitions come every 12 bars for the sake of complexity. There's a sincerity to the busy-ness, a band excited about writing music like this in order to express themselves.

For my personal opinion, an entire album of this grand, spiritual, uplifting symphonic prog is a little too much. If you've ever felt that a Glass Hammer album simply exudes to the point of oozing a Christian message then this album has the same effect except without being specifically Christian. This is Jon Anderson territory for sure. Check out the song titles: "We Are the Light", "The Awaken Dreamer in the Soul Garden Dreams the Flower Planets", "Jagannath Orbit (in the Orbit of Love)". This is loose-fitting tunics and linen pants, barefoot and beads music. And that's where I find the album a little too much to take all at once. Each of the songs, long and short, are good and wonderful on their own. But all together in one sitting can make me tune out or hunger for something a little darker or more aggressive.

Still, this is a band worthy of including in the same sentence as Yes and Glass Hammer. If you're a fan of those bands, then Anima Mundi come highly recommended. Come to think of it, if Yes' "Heaven and Earth" had been more like this then it likely wouldn't have been slagged so badly.