Cereus Sounds are an international collective who record remotely via BandLab, and are Brian Falk (USA) on lead vocals, guitar, percussion; Mario Gabrielli (Italy), acoustic and electric guitars; Bob McNeice (USA) playing piano, organ, synths, vocal; Fabian Bono (Argentina) on bass guitar; and Susan Yuill (Australia) on drums and percussion.
They have released The Lost Oasis, an album which, certainly on the Progressive Ears forum I frequent, has garnered some very positive feedback, entirely justified in my opinion. You can get hold of the album by visiting https://cereussounds.bandcamp.com/album/the-lost-oasis
This is a collective writing endeavour, with Falk & McNiece responsible for the production duties (ably performed, I might add). They describe the concept here as a hidden oasis deep within the heart of a scorching desert, with legend whispering of hidden treasure there, a golden goblet whose contents would grant the drinker eternal youth, with others stating that it contained untold riches.
Many had sought the oasis, and all had perished, but the allure remains too great to resist.
I love stories like this in my music. At heart, I still resemble a child in that I get very excited by a sense of wonderment, adventure, the thrill of a new narrative set to music which allows the mind to explore and wonder.
There are eleven tracks, so let’s discuss and listen to some of it.
We open with the longest track on the album, The Lost Oasis Shall Arise, a suitably panoramic title to introduce a concept. The oasis rises like a phantom as you close your eyes, from the life before to the afterlife. I am immediately struck by the rich sounds of McNiece’s keys, and this strikes one from the off as the type of album classic prog fans should lap up, bright, full of anticipatory sound, a collaboration between musicians who care and breathe their instruments. A symphonic prog delight, bass guitar fans especially will enjoy the way Bono plays his instrument as a lead. The guitar solo is gorgeous, and Falk has a strong way of expressing the story in his vocals. This is a very good start.
Desert Sunrise is an instrumental and it pulls off that trick I have talked about so often on this website, that of telling a story without words, transporting the listener to its destination. This exceptional piece takes you to the point on your trek where you are surveying the sun rising over the vista, with more than a little fear at what might await you as the quest begins in earnest. Exceptional keyboard work on this track and Gabrielli again shows his chops on a quite lovely guitar burst.
The Shadow of the Dunes is a tale of the impact the sun and desert have upon the traveller. Mirage or reality in what you see? The start is reminiscent of Gabriel’s Blood of Eden before developing into a nice pastoral number, the acoustic guitars and piano giving us that dreamy sense, with a rather lovely vocal performance that has a nice commercial core to it, all underpinned by a wonderful skins’ performance by Yuill.
Endless Sand (You Can Feel the Heat) follows. It references the Egyptian deity, Horus, who took the form of a falcon and in this context I believe referring to his role in charge of the sun and the sky, the humans feeling small and helpless in the face of His power, the keys providing for a swirling and curling narrative, Yuill again providing for a staggering core on the drums – she is one of my finds of recent times, to be sure, as is Gabrielli with more signature breaks on the guitar. A very strong classic rock infused piece of trance music. It is embedded below for you to enjoy.
I will be playing The Sandstorm on my Progzilla Radio show scheduled for broadcast on Saturday 15th February, another instrumental with the sounds of the camels and humans alike petrified at the impending blitz, swirling guitars and keys (love the Hammond in this) providing for a musical maelstrom, all underpinned by a throbbing rhythm section. Wonderfully chaotic, especially when the drums and percussion crash against your senses. At the close, those poor humped creatures are clearly not entirely happy with their lot!
Sungazing is sort of a calm after the storm, a song of dreaming, meditating, and it has a wonderful feel to me of Camel’s Rajaz, one of my favourite albums of all time. Certainly, the guitar work here stands serious comparison. An early contender for my website’s “track of the year” for sure.
It’s Getting Hotter follows. Rather self-explanatory, our intrepid explorers are beginning to feel the (ahem) heat, and the whole piece is suitably dramatic, a distorted guitar, crashing drums, thumping bassline, dystopian keys, and the voice fearful.
Lamento del Desierto requires no Lazland translation service, but I will give mention here to the poem it is lyrically based upon, Wilderness by Joy Lenton, a spiritual poet – take a look at the poem at https://poetryjoy.com/2020/01/06/wilderness-a-place-of-refuge-restoration-and-grace/ and her website at https://joylenton.com/ The music more than matches the barren wilderness, the voice distorted and full of fear, the music reaching dystopian heights. You picture yourself in the face of eternity, perhaps in the manner of Christ in his 40-day trial.
Longing for Home is a tale of defeat, the promised oasis a mirage, a fiction, and tired, bruised, and close to exhaustion, our heroes simply want to go home. I love the vocal performance on this, Falk most certainly summoning the classic storytelling vocalists of days passed. Full of regret, the desert taunting, mocking, this is a wall of sound with a lightness of touch that does put you in mind of some of the classic playful Genesis tracks in its feel.
Reprise (The Journey Home) is the second seven-minute-plus track, and the title speaks for itself. Bringing together the album themes, but with a wistful, regretful timbre, mournful in the failure to find the oasis, but also looking forward to a return to normality. The piece sounds so lush, production values really shining through on this, so much so that it is difficult to imagine that this band probably never physically met to record this wonderful work.
We close with A Reason. Walking together on the shore, the waves crashing, the roar full of life, the explorers having no regrets, and lyrics such as “A reason to fight for what we believe, A reason for life and what it's given me” providing for lessons in how we can make our world a better place. Trying, overcoming adversity, belief (no matter how futile it might feel sometimes), sacrifice, core values which we can all utilise. There is the most staggering bassline on this track, so utterly beautiful I have had the song on replay in my study. The feel of the piece is so forward looking, with a definite post punk pop feel to it amongst the prog wall of sound, full of the simple joy of being, in a manner which moves the whole album well beyond a “simple” story of a desert quest.
The praise I have seen for this album is more than justified. The more I listen to it, the more I fall in love with it, an album which is life affirming and deserving of your attention & support. Yet another new album which this website is ecstatic to support and recommend in this golden age of intelligent music.