Independent Release
Review By Tony Cannella
Nova Orbis is a 6-person progressive rock/metal band from Colombia. The band are led by vocalist Ana Barajas as she adds a tremendously strong and confident vocal style to this – their debut release “Imago”. In addition to Ana, several of the songs feature some male vocals as well, both in the clean traditional metal and the other style being more aggressive and mean. Personally, I love this prog rock/metal style that the band display and they do it well. To be honest with you I was a bit underwhelmed by the opening track “Castle in Exile” (although it is starting to grow on me). “Imago” really starts to pick up some serious momentum with the next tracks “Unstable Mind” and “Dark Delusion”. Without a doubt my favorite song on this CD is “Love Remains”. With this song (as with the whole album really) the band have struck the right balance between prog and just straight forward, adrenaline pumping metal. The performances all the way around are breathtaking on this one and the vocal duet between Ana and the clean male vocals is pretty cool and gives it an epic feel. The band follow that up with the equally great “The Lamp” that once again features some give-and-take between Ana and the clean male vocalist. The next track “Sarah Deserves to Rest” starts off with a middle-eastern kind of feel to it before setting into a comfortable groove. Lyrically the band is also quite diverse, taking on such dissimilar topics as fantasy, literature, politics and philosophy.“Imago” features 10-songs and about 55-minutes worth of materiel, that range from the more commercially viable to intricate musical pieces, with the great vocals of Ana Barajas leading the way. The male vocals are also well done by Jose David Barajas and Jorge A. Gutierrez (sorry I am really not sure who sings what style, there is no listing on the CD). Nova Orbis are a band that should appeal to musicians and non-musicians alike. This is a damn good CD.
Rating – 87/100
Tracklist
- Castle of Exile
- Unstable Mind
- Dark Delusion
- Ancient Guardian
- Change
- Love Remains
- The Lamp
- Sarah Deserves to Rest
- Falling of the Empire
- Wisdom Hunter (Radio Edit)
Line Up
- Ana Barajas – Vocals
- José David Barajas – Guitars & Vocals
- Jorge A. Gutierrez – Guitars & Vocals
- David Martinez – Keyboards
- Rodolfo Caliz – Bass
- José Fernando Osorio – Drums
Links
MySpace * ReverbNation * Facebook * Twitter