A Mexican, prog-rock-oriented one-man wonder gives us  a sample of the future in the form of an EP cinematically called Railroads, and said future’s shaping up to be pretty good for those who are listening. It is a definite step forward from the already enjoyable Desiderata, adding voices and other instances of electronics, with ambience now serving a definite purpose as melody-enabler and emotional-enhancer. If that sounds like some sort of sci-fi device, it’s only because we can now feel the slight, ethereal presence of 65daysofstatic and God Is An Astronaut among the metallic riffs, post-rock structural development, and simple, elegant piano phrases.

This is a tighter Lost Reverie at work, better at arranging all the sounds at his disposal and apparently more learned in the ways of – perhaps – Porcupine Tree, melding aural heaviness as well as ‘lightness’ with clarity, and bringing deeply emotional bursts to the forefront by means of clean, articulate solos. While this was a very attractive feature on the first album (after all, post-rock and related genres are against the idea of the virtuosic player), it is even more restricted on this EP, presenting the listener with a very cinematic evolution of the music, producing violence only when it is deemed needed, and flowing mostly in a mellower, more melancholic, and calmer fashion. “Kumori” and “Railroads” are perfect examples of this, with their soft, delicate entrances, seemingly long and linear development (if only because they are well constructed, since both tracks last for five minutes and a half or so), and sudden, almost unexpected, but most welcome explosions into prog-metal.

“Cloudy”, the closing track, is perhaps Lost Reverie’s “Collapse the Light into Earth.” Weakened only by the somewhat bland vocal style, it is driven by acoustic guitar and strings as well as a reprise of “Kumori”’s sweet entrance riff played in piano and repeating in the background. It would probably be stronger if it had a narrative, a build-up in the style of the aforementioned Porcupine Tree track culminating in dramatic tension and ultimate relief. Nevertheless it is a solid song, and it certainly keeps my hope high for what we can expect is coming for the project’s next album.

- David Murrieta