Here and gone in the space of couple of years, Come Lilies were a band from California that released a couple of discs that kocked a lot of socks off offa their respective owners feet, then broke up and faded into obscurity. Memento Mori was the third release from the band, originally released under their own imprint and then reissued over in Europe on Denovali, and this short but captivating disc is as dizzying a blast of instrumental metallic prog as anything that I've heard from Irepress or Mars Volta. Irepress is the reference point that keeps popping into my head as I listen to this, these guys have a similiar way of dishing out virtuosic prog rock and fusion alongside crushing metallic riffage and some really breathtaking cinematic rock passages and soaring melodies that would make any Mono fan weep. Compared to Irepress, however, Coma Lilies were a virtual orchestra on this EP, and the two main songs that are the focal point of this disc ("Memento Mori" and, uh, "Penis Envy") feature keyboards, piano, melodica, accordian, glockenspiel, samplers, mandolins, violin, programmed beats, cellos, trumpets, clarinets, turntables...whew! It's like a fusion of metallic prog and chamber music, and whenever the horn fanfares or dreamy fusion parts kick in, I'm definitetly transported to someplace else. Those first two songs are over eight minutes apiece and are the meat of the matter here, but afterwards the band blasts through six more experimental tracks that travel through more super-complex prog, dreamy post rock, short metallic eruptions that sound like Behold...The Arctopus contracted in short microbursts of energy, freaked out pan-genre spasms that come close to Naked City territory, short quirky jazz workouts, even some bizarre 8-bit robo-funk at the very end. It's close to a half hour of quirky, dramatic prog awesomeness, and the chops and songwriting are of such a high quality on this that I'm really stunned that I had never heard of these cats before, and that Zi had to be introduced to them through a French label. Anyone into lush modern prog with tendencies towards moments of crushing heaviosity should really look into these guys and this disc, and it's especially recommended to fans of Irepress.