Favna Abisal: Rerum Imaginaria

Chilean prog-metallers cover a broad swath of genres on Rerum Imaginaria, a fifty-minute concept album that manages to feel a lot longer than that runtime suggests. This genre-hopping includes a minor jazz odyssey ("Rey Abisal"), electronic (the synth-heavy opener of "Oceanos mentales"), and folk ("Energia Demencial Parte I"). These transitions are handled quite well, which is no easy task considering the compositional difficulty Favna Abisal set out for themselves here. Still, for all the experimentation going on here, the common thread is straightforward prog metal, evidenced right from the beginning with the opening track "El Jucio de Arronax."

Like most debut albums, however, this one does show clear signposts for improvement come the next time the band decides to hit the studio. Lead vocalist Melanocetus Jhonsoni has one of those operatic voices that tend to put people off; similar to Dream Theater's James Labrie, he'll either be seen as one of the band's strongest assets or one of its key weaknesses. For now, he isn't holding back Favna Abisal's music significantly by any means, but given the strength of the instrumental work here, it would be ideal for the focus to be less on vocal performance.

Most of all, though, Favna Abisal are fighting an uphill battle. The epic prog market is as oversaturated as it's ever been, and it really does take a lot of hard work to rise above the guitar-shredding masses. At the present moment, Favna Abisal aren't quite close to the cream of the crop, but the signs of talent on Rerum Imaginaria are indicative of a group with greater things to come.

Tracklist:
1. El Juicio de Arronax (Aronnax' Trial)
2. El Observador (The Watcher)
3. Energia Demencial Parte I (Demential Energy Part I)
4. Oceanos mentales (Mental Oceans)
5. Energia Demencial Parte II (Demential Energy Part II
6. Supernatura (Supernatural)
7. Rey Abisal (Abyssal King)

Added: December 11th 2012
Reviewer: Brice Ezell
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
Hits: 1841
Language: english

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