LOST REVERIE

I would describe the music on "Railroads" as falling primarily on the more atmospheric, softer side of post-rock, but there are definitely heavy parts sprinkled in. There's a lot of delicate piano and some ethereal vocals thrown in, and all in all the arrangement is very good.

"Kumori" starts off the EP. The first part of the song is built around a repeating set of notes which is eventually developed with some minimal vocals, excellent percussion and some electronic effects which give the piece a unique feel. It takes a drastic turn at about its halfway point, getting much heavier and adding some excellent guitar soloing while keeping the same general harmonic progression. This second section makes the song feel very varied, and I think makes it much better than it would have been had it stuck with its first section for its entire 5 and a half minute duration.

"Ghosts" begins with a minor-key, somewhat sinister bass line which eventually has some very cool guitar and percussion added over it. Despite not having vocals, "Ghosts" is very similar structurally to "Kumori," with its first half characterized by a slow buildup of arrangement on top of its repeating element, and its second half adding a much heavier guitar part. I've always admired people who write Post-Rock type music for their ability to make music which is so built on repetition and yet never gets boring, and "Ghosts" only enforces that opinion. Though it's over 6 and a half minutes, it's never hard to listen to and certainly never wears on the listener's patience.

"Railroads" begins with some atmospheric sounds before a piano and some more vocals enter and the main melody picks up. This track, especially its second half, sounds very cheerful by Post-Rock's usually gloomy standards, and makes very good use of some string sounds to add to its ambience. There's another heavy section at the end, but the strings continue over it to create a very nice blend of melodic beauty and heaviness.

"Cloudy" concludes the EP. This song is driven primarily by a repeated piano line with acoustic guitar and strings backing it, and of the four tracks on the album it makes use of vocals most prominently. The only track on the album not to include a heavy section, "Cloudy" is a great closer that brings the EP to a nice thematic close, as it uses the same melody repeated melody as "Kumori," but an octave up and on a different instrument. It's a great way to tie the album together.

Overall, if I had to describe the tone of the music on this EP I would say "hopeful," which is a great thing in a genre that so often goes with "soul-crushing." As I mentioned before, one shouldn't expect this 21 minute EP to be as complete or fulfilling as a full album would be, but not a single moment of "Railroads" feels out of place. There are no stand-out, "take your breath away" tracks, but this really brilliant EP that executes everything it tries to do perfectly.

4/5

Once again, it is a pleasure to me to review an effort made by a Mexican artist, Juan Herrera, a very talented musician is the man behind Lost Reverie and after his interesting debut back in 2008, he decided to created this 4-song EP entitled "Railroads", which was successfully released last year (2009) and again, I was pleased with his music.

The EP kicks off with "Kumori", a 5-minute song which opens with a repetitive electric guitar sound during the first minute, there is an innovation here, because for the very first time Juan Herrera vocals appear, (in his debut album he did not sing at all), and here appear with a delicate vocal sound; that repetitive guitar sound that opened the song continues, but accompanied by another elements, there is another guitar sound ala post rock, along with some electronic elements that in moments remind me to 65daysofstatic for instance, after 3 minutes, the song explodes and turns into a heavy post rock sound, reminding me to Lost Reverie's first album, Desiderata, I mean, this part of the song could have fit perfectly in his debut. The last minute of the song is a bit calmed; it has now a piano sound instead the guitar, very good.

Next track is "Ghosts" which happens to be the longest one on this EP, the start of this song is somehow similar to the first song, at least in terms of timing, because the guitar sound is darker, the repetition of this sound is what will make you stay and keep listening (or you may be bored after a couple of minutes), what I like of him is how he manages to keep the listener's attention with the different elements he adds through the minutes, I mean, no matter it may sound very repetitive, he incorporates new thing with the pass of the seconds, listen to it carefully and will understand what I mean. At minute 4, as in the previous song, he makes an explosion and that gently sound becomes more powerful, his guitar work is great, along with the piano sound and drums, if you didn't know, he plays all the instruments.

"Railroads" is a beautiful song which starts with a light guitar sound (very post rock), which makes a gently atmosphere that contrasts with the previous songs, now it is an ambient of peace, just before minute 2, a piano sound appears along with his voice, which to be honest is not the best voice I've heard but fits good, later drums enter as well following the same gently line, and the song keeps the same mellow and soft rhythm to the end, but I have to mention that there is a kind of violin sound which makes it even more beautiful; when the song reaches minute 4 it becomes a bit stronger and reminds me this time to some Demians parts, I do not know if Juan likes Demians but seems to be one of his direct influences. This is my favourite song.

And the album finishes with "Cloudy" which is the shortest song, which is like the reprise of Kumori, I mean the piano notes used at the beginning are the same ones at the end of the first song, but in this track after some seconds an acoustic guitar appears creating a kind atmosphere, here, to be honest I would have preferred the song without vocals, but it does sound good anyway.

I invite everyone who like post rock or even metal to take a listen to Lost Reverie's works, are interesting so you may like it.

My final grade for this cool EP is 3 stars.

Enjoy it!

Lost Reverie's second release, entitled Railroads, after the impressive, but somewhat disjointed debut, is a more concise album and shows Juan Herrera knowing exactly where to go. This time he leaves most of the heaviness behind and focus' on the melancholic and gentle aspects of Post Rock.

Opening with Kumori, an easy song to divide in two halfs. The first half being tranquil and atmospheric featuring Juan Herrera's first vocal appearance, and got to say they fit very well with the mood. The second half brings back the metal aspects of the debut with Juan's great capability on the guitar duites, but not really as heavy since the melancholic atmoshpere is still present in the background.

Ghosts is a rather tenebrous tune, as the title may imply, in which Juan was capable of achieving a pretty dark mood with the bass and guitar, yet never too scary to put the listener off.

Railroads on the other hand is a beautiful tune played softly with a lot of mellotron, but with enough emotion, thanks to Juan's great guitar playing, to keep the listener's attention.

The EP finishes with another gorgeous tune called Cloudy. As the title implies, it does have a semi-dark mood, but it doesn't work as a tenebrous factor as in Ghosts, if not for a rather nice mood with simple piano melodies and acoustic guitar chords.

As a whole, this EP by Juan is something that makes me look forward for his upcoming studio release. It's less heavy, but still takes your attention pretty easily and the compositions, like I stated at the beginning, are more concise than in the debut.

3 stars since they're only four songs and none are really excellent, yet if Juan manages to pull out an entire record in the likes of this EP, then that'll surely get the 4 stars.

Once again I am happy to review an album from a Mexican project, this time an act with the name of "Lost Reverie" which is actually not a band, but the work of one single man who has shared his musical skills with a very nice debut album. The best thing, is that Juan Herrera is a young guy so we will have (I hope) Lost Reverie for long time.

His debut album is called "Desiderata" which features 8 compositions and a total time of 58 minutes approx. The album kicks off with "Umi" which slowly starts with some synth effects that remind me to some New Age acts, however that is not what we will hear in this album, a few seconds later the guitars enter with a calm sound but that will last only for some seconds before the predominant powerful guitar sound appears creating a stronger structure, the guitars immediately takes you to a metal oriented song, the drums are very good but what I like are also the "background" noises, some sort of piano sound and some programming here and there. A couple of minutes later, the song calms down a little bit, there are nice bass notes, and there, once again, the song becomes stronger with the addition of excellent piano notes which create a very nice atmosphere.

"Us" is the longest track reaching almost 15 minutes which again starts with a very soft and calm sound, mainly created by piano notes, and just before the first minute ends, again a stronger guitar appear. Little by little a new structure is being created and that metal oriented sound prevails. A couple of minutes later there is a short stop and the song starts again, I mean it is like a new passage which again begins slower and then faster and stronger, the music sometimes remind me to Demians or Porcupine Tree, or even Dream Theater in some short moments. I like the way he uses his guitar and how he manages to catch the listener with the song's different passages. It is a very nice epic which ends with a softer and gentler sound.

Next one is "Drift", nice charming guitar sound that reminds me to the beginning of a Explosions in the Sky song, so here the post rock label could fit perfectly. After 2 minutes and a very short stop, drums appear and that gently guitar sound keeps playing and giving you a sense of tranquility. But then he could not have left out that stronger sound that characterizes him and now from post rock the label would have a minor change, to post metal. The end is very emotional; this is one of the best songs in my opinion.

"Morning" is a short metal guitar oriented song that works as the prelude to "Photographs" which continues as if it were the second part of morning, so the first seconds are pretty alike, later some other synth effects and new musical elements appear which fit perfectly on the song, while the guitar is always with the song (album) leadership. During the second half of the song there is a different sound, maybe more electronic, but works good, later the metal sound returns.

"Memento" has a special atmosphere, you can close your eyes and see images, that drum and the effects and strange noises works great, then a more elaborated drumming starts to build up a new sound which is progressing little by little, until the song reaches its climax. A very nice composition to my ears.

"Sue" is a beautiful track, this time he uses an acoustic guitar playing a primordial role in the song, then he puts his electric guitar over the acoustic but in a gently manner, not in that metal sound, more to the soft side of post rock, so this is like a rest of the heavier side of Lost Reverie.

To finish this excellent debut album, we have "Ame" which continues with that soft and calm sound, which after a minute is complemented with some synth effects and then giving the piano its own moment in the song. Later all of a sudden the song explodes and within some seconds it returns to its calmer sound. And yes, as you guess that calmer passage was just made in order to give pass to the powerful metal oriented sound he loves. Then there is an acoustic guitar that sounds very nice and there is also something that I am not sure is a Mellotron, but sound like if it was, giving to the song a very nice atmosphere, and very interesting.

This is a comfortable debut from a new Mexican artist, for those who know me, I am not that keen on metal oriented music, though I like some bands or albums, and this time I am happy with this record no matter its metal tendencies, so I truly recommend it to you, who love metal and post rock, I believe you might find it interesting.

My final grade, 3.75 stars, rounded up to 4. Enjoy it!

The debut of Lost Reverie, is actually the debut of one man, Juan Herrera. Juan certainly knowing about Prog Rock, creates a album, of 2 different genres in which he will be able of connecting very well enough, all by himself, yes all by himself, he plays the guitar, the synths and programs a very reliable rythm section(bass and drums). The 2 different genres are Metal and Post-Rock, in which he will deliver Metal riffs within Post-Rock textures, from chilling odd experiences to heavy distorted ones, Juan Herrera is capable of pulling one excellent Prog Metal/Post-Rock debut.

Prog Metal domination: This is definitely Us, the 14 minutes piece, while opening with charming piano chords, the song soon develops into heavy grounds with Juan's killing guitar, based on heavy riffs. Us does show the quiter and spacey side of Lost Reverie, though it doesn't last long, they're short passages in which they give the listener a break as well as a different view about the song, rather than just thinking of it as Prog Metal. In general a heavy, though with a lot of mood and tempo changes, song, showing Juan's capability of a song-writer as well as a guitarist.

The other track in which the heavy riffs are the main role of the song is the short, though powerful, Morning. A more of a technical guitar song, with a lot of riff changes ala intro of Metropolis(Part 1) by Dream Theater. Another reliable evidence about Juan's guitar playing as well as influences.

Post-Rock domination: Memento is one of them, with it's echoey and calm 3 minute intro. The song has some powerful guitar appearances, though not making riffs, just adding some power momentum to the song, as well as adding some more climatic energy with the solos. The song overall has a dark feel, yet nothing scary, with the already mentioned echoey and calm aspects.

Ame is the other song with those characteristics mentioned from Memento, though this one has a more spacey and modern feel, with sounds similar to the mellotron, as well as featuring charming piano chords in which will then, unexpectedly, transform to powerful guitar chords, and consecutivly transforming into metal riffs, but the Post-Rock feel always there at the background, so as the special climax never fades. The song finishes proudly enough with those charming piano chords.

A good balance of both sides: Umi is certainly one of those, with the best of each side; the Post-Rock-like intro, with a interesting climax achieved by the programmed bass and drums, Juan's gentle and echoey guitar and keyboards. The Metal side of the song is dominated by Juan's heavy guitar, which delivers, as always, great heavy riffs for those Prog Metal lovers to enjoy. Umi ends up being a very good sum-up of the style of Lost Reverie.

Drift brings another pack of excellent atmospheric climax from the Post-Rock realm, as well as a good bunch of heavy riffs, which varie from the lighter side of Metal to the heaviest and darkest one. Another excellent representation of what Lost Reverie is about.

Lost Reverie was surely a difficult band to evaluate for the sub-genres teams, yet, they made it here, in Post-Rock, which suits quite well, as well as making a quite special appearance to the whole sub-genre because of the Metal addition to it's music.

Desiderata is one of a kind in my collection, being a newbie in this sub-genre, I can't help of clicking the 4 stars rating, so it may not be a classic Post-Rock album neither a Prog Metal one, yet it's music really makes it to be excellent for me.

Fans of Prog Metal and Post Rock will find this a unique experience, that's for sure.