Tides From Nebula
Aura

THE REVIEW

Poland. Musically, besides folk, death metal comes to mind. Not only Vader or Behemoth, but a myriad of other bands, some mimicking the aforementioned ones, others offering something more original but always close to that genre. To be honest, among this chaos of bands with the most desperate names (like Infernum, Decapitated, Witchmaster, Kataxu, Artrosis), most of the time I can't discern the difference between Technical-Progressive-Death and Melodic-Death-Metal, but that's probably my issue.

However, every now and then, you can fish out a band from the Polish cauldron that surprises, as happened to me with these Tides From Nebula.

The quartet from Warsaw was formed last year, and "Aura," their first work, was released in May 2009, taking them on tour with the Modena-based At The Soundawn.

The Post-Rock they offer is pleasant and original, the 9 tracks that make up the completely instrumental album are heterogeneous and all maintain the same level.

Languid atmospheres embroidered by guitar arpeggios sometimes give way to more rock sections that then tend to dissipate, as in "It Takes More Than One Kind Of Telescope To See The Light." The firm start of the second "Sleepmonster" is very nice, which then slows down abruptly, dissolving into distortions and drumming variations only to regain vigor towards the end. It is, in my opinion, the very malleable and full-bodied sound, yet never heavy, of the two guitarists Waleszynski and Karbowski (the latter also on keyboards) that certainly adds an extra touch to the pieces, like in the opening of the beautiful "Higgs Boson" or in "Tragedy Of Joseph Merrick" with the rhythmic base of the duo Weglowski (bass)-Stolowski (drums) in evidence. Also noteworthy is the long "Apricot" which gently concludes the album with a touch of sonic melancholy.

Very beautiful too is the cover of "Aura," by the Portuguese Helder Pedro, already a collaborator with the Irish God Is An Astronaut.

An excellent debut, an album with peculiar sounds and very relaxing atmospheres.