Band: Umphrey’s McGee
Album: Mantis
Released: 2009 by SCI Fidelity Records
Genre: Rock/Progressive Rock/Jam Band/Art-Rock 
Personnel:
• Brendan Bayliss: guitar, vocals
• Jake Cinninger: guitar, keyboards, vocals
• Joel Cummins: keyboards, vocals
• Ryan Stasik: bass
• Kris Myers: drums, vocals
• Andy Farag: percussion
• Jeff Coffin: clarinets, saxophones
• Christoper Hoffman and Nathan Swanson: violins, violas, cellos
1. "Made to Measure" 3:12
2. "Preamble" 0:36
3. "Mantis" 11:49
4. "Cemetery Walk" 7:30
5. "Cemetery Walk II" 2:19
6. "Turn & Run" 7:25
7. "Spires" 7:41
8. "Prophecy Now" 2:47
9. "Red Tape" 5:43
10. "1348" 4:49
Special Note: There are numerous downloadable bonus tracks, of which I have not listed.
The Album:
“Mantis” is the 11th album from Umphrey’s McGee. For those of you who are not familiar with Umphrey’s McGee, they are very similar to Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic. The music on “Mantis” is comprised of songs the band composed and recorded basically at the same time in the studio over a two year period of time. Umphrey’s McGee is known for some excellent improvisation, and this album lives up to those expectations. In the past, UM compositions have been improvised on stage and the finer details worked out during recording, but “Mantis” is artistic material that has never been played on stage, which is a fairly new musical direction for UM.
This album is chock full of melodic and jamming progressive works of art, all incorporating many different sounds and instruments to create various moods. The musical compositions are very intricate and elaborate and lean heavily toward the old fashion art-rock style of progressive rock. The members of the band collected a series of musical riffs, then put those riffs together in a flowing fashion, where each song takes you on several different journeys of sound. The best way I can describe the music on “Mantis” is to throw a half dozen different genres in a blender; spice that with Genesis, Phish, Steely Dan, The Beatles, and Radiohead and what you end up with is an artistic masterpiece blasting through your stereo speakers.
The Music: ”Made to Measure” ~ This song shows a Beatles influence and is definitely a tribute to art-rock bands of the past. A relatively short song for a progressive piece but the harmonies are fabulous!
”Preamble” ~ a 36 second intro for the title track. Not much to say about this.
”Mantis” ~ The title track, a very long song at 11+ minutes. Knowing that the music on this song is a fusion of many riffs and musical styles contributed by the members, you can hear each piece flow together in splendid art-rock tradition. You can hear some metal riffage and 90’s rock influences. Actually, I found the song interesting but exhausting .
”Cemetary Walk” ~ The piano intro is very beautiful then the song moves to a very aggressive prog composition. This song reminds me of something Steely Dan would do, but also moves in various musical directions and tempos. What is so great about this band is how they interact together so smoothly, the musical transitions are seamless. I love how the ending of the song is merely “white” noise.
”Cemetary Walk II” ~ A short piece of music compared to the previous songs. This song has an electro-feel, making it appear a bit poppy. No vocals, just some analog keyboards…….<sigh>
”Turn and Run” ~ Begins with an acoustic guitar riff, then leads into some great vocals. Strangely, I noticed the vocals on this song, the music isn’t so complex to over-rule the vocals. The song does build in complexity midsong, and there are some really neat solo’s . The grand finale of the song is a blistering guitar solo. Most excellent!
”Spires” ~ Progressive rock in a heavy metal wrapper. This song reminds me of something you would hear from early Genesis or Yes. The end of the song has a nice Beach Boys vocal harmony of “ohhs and Ahhs”.
”Prophecy Now” ~ The most experimental and psychedelic piece on the album. Also one of the shortest songs. A very mysterious and deep song.
”Red Tape” ~ How about a bit of British Invasion? !! There is some nice guitar work on this song and a great synthesizer solo. I also should mention that the vocals blend very nicely with the music.
”1348” ~ Saving the best for last. This song, IMO, is the highlight of the album. This song blends hard rock, metal, prog, funk, and pop all in one. The riff is very infectious.
For a band that composes their music out of improvisation, “Mantis” is a skillfully executed masterpiece. The album has excellent production and top notch musicianship. I highly recommend this album to any prog fan and to all you hard rockers and purveyors of the British Invasion………..you will all enjoy “Mantis”.
My rating for listening pleasure 4/5.
Umphrey's McGee - Mantis (2009) 
Linear Mode
