Íon is the new project under the guidance of Duncan Patterson who also excelled with Antimatter, which can itself rudely be described as a dark ambient spin-off from Anathema. Where Antimatter could be described as quite intense, deep and, more than anything, extremely despondent, Madre, Protégenos is more of an exotic, folky and lighter kind of affair. The music is characterized by a low bass and keyboard ambience and calm drumming brought to life with, mostly strummed, Spanish guitars, as well as an occasional sound effect here and there. The, predominantly female, vocalists are well-chosen as they provide the music with nicely performed lamentations. After repeated listens the first few songs did not succeed in getting a hold on me however. The Latin influences combined with the dream-inducing waves of soft instrumentation create a soothing and relaxed atmosphere but somehow fails to intrigue. The sound of lightly strummed instruments is sophisticated and refined and the band never crosses the line of tolerance, but doesn’t stray too far from it either. If you’re just willing to experience a relaxing atmosphere this might be perfect, but to me this is a bit tame.

After the fifth song however Madre, Protégenos’ tranquil current starts really flowing. Starting with an absorbing song (‘Believe’) in which all that Antimatter made great is recapitulated, a beautiful vocal line is combined with simple arpeggios and clear keyboard layers, nicely arranged in breathing passages.

This song diffuses lightly in a short track composed of just drums and singing, or rather, wailing, nicely contrasting with the previous in its simplicity. Strange though acceptable follows an interpretation of an Irish folk-song, ‘Goodbye Johnny Dear’. Digressing from the Latin atmosphere of the rest of the album the lyrics are sung with that typical Irish accent and provided with a barely audible dark and weighty keyboard undertone rendering the song as gloomy as can possibly be. ‘Fe, Esperanza, Amor’ starts with a simple keyboard melody that shows some likeness to the eerie and cold tunes of Die Verbannten Kindern Evas, another great band in this genre. This short instrumental creates the perfect mood for the closer, ‘Beyond The Morning’, which is, again, a beautifully peformed emotional song, guided by minimalistic chords and finishes the album in style.

If strangely divergent, these last songs together do really provide the ingredients this kind of music needs to create the melancholic atmosphere strived for without becoming monotonous. Just for an additional advice, make sure that you are not in a too happy mood when putting on this album, for that is quite likely to be ruined.