This album is a bit of an enigma wrapped in a riddle but a somewhat familiar one. Mana ERG is Bruno De Angelis, having released albums since 1990, both under his own name and Mana ERG. ( I can't help but think the name comes from Van Der Graaf Generator's "Man Erg" track on the 'Pawn Hears' album.) Bruno is also one half of LHAM (Leaving Hardly A Mark) with Giuseppe Verticchio, whose albums I have reviewed here previously. Both LHAM and Mana ERG are soundscape projects, but actually quite different. For one, LHAM is a bit darker with more industrial touches, not to say that Mana ERG doesn't have those moments. De Angelis definitely leaves a unique fingerprint on the music, and now I can see why LHAM is the way it is. If I had to assign a simple genre category for 'Concealed Under A Strange Tongue,' I'd call it Experimental Ambient, but this is a long way off from any kind of conventional ambient music. That the album was mastered by Chain D.L.K.'s own Marc Urselli, which is a big plus. (If you want your album to sound great, go with a Grammy Ward winner who understands what you're trying to achieve.) This is the only Mana ERG album I've heard out of the ten or so that have been released.

The album consists of 12 tracks that seem to resemble some type of fever dream. Bruno describes the album as "twelve instrumentals blending obscure rock textures with cinematic soundscapes...a final salute to the band's legacy and memory of Renaissance soprano Deborah Roberts." (Renaissance being the music genre not the progressive rock band of the same name. That would be Annie Haslam, who is still alive by the way.) The cinematic aspect of this album is partially due to Movie and TV series dialogue samples discreetly woven into the music, such as 'Apocalypse New!', 'Birdman', Blacklist', and others. The album begins with the sound of footsteps walking, a door opening or closing, then some acoustic guitar ("Responsive Pseudofingers") before moving into more rock-oriented terrain. Hey! This even sounds like the opening to a film! "Shades of Vermilion" is at first a confusing jumble of sounds and voices before it takes form as some kind of bizarre ritual or ceremonial semi-psychedelic...thing. (Think latter-day Swans.) "Alea Iacta" features the soothing voice of James Spader while surfing some strange exotica. I don't even know how to describe "Graceful Emanations" except that it sounds a little like something the French band AIR would do in their more experimental moments. While track 5, "Penumbra," will likely be remembered most for Emma Stone's quote "Who the fuck are you? You don't even have a Facebook page. You're the one who doesn't exist!" it is really much more than that. "Graves Of The Fireflies" is the ultimate fever dream piece on the album, and that mysterious, squeaky noise could be anything but firefles...maybe an oscillator?

"How Faint The Tune" WWII Foo Fighters and "How High The Moon" - an ode to distant UFOs and the past, still an enigma today. I think by now you might get the idea of what this album sounds like so I will dispense with describing the rest of the tracks on it. They are all different, but is a similar vein. This is great stuff, just as good as LHAM but in a different way, so if you enjoy that project, you will definitely enjoy this one. The album drops May 20th, and there is no Bandcamp link to it yet, so you will have to take my word, at least until then. Worthy and highly recommended.