Progressive Rock
The lovely dissonant sounds of a guitar full of subtlety beyond distorted grime put us in the right frame of mind to take the hit of the main riff on “L’absència”. A dense, low, consistent tone that sets up the contrast with the following guitar arpeggios and a relaxed voice. The later guitar motifs might remind you of Elder running a couple of speeds slower, giving it a doom-adjacent feel and offering a more than notable album opener.
Continuing along that dark line, we get “La llum”. Slow-tempo and heavy in its development, it sows good dynamism within the main idea, which they’re not afraid to show off at length. Once again, the voice’s serene melodies contrast with the thickness of the rest of the instrumentation, leading into a more intimate interlude that, progressively (it’s what prog does), gradually reveals biting rhythmic lines with an increasingly restrained aggression.
“Les Cicatrius” opens with a hypnotic atmosphere, almost transporting us to unsettling psychedelic territory, abruptly interrupted by a surprising bridge close to death metal. With the voice added on top, things get, perhaps, extremely confusing, and the idea they’re trying to convey ends up turning into a distorted blob that, curiously, keeps you alert as to where it’s all heading. Although you could sense a stripped-back pause coming, it’s still lovely even for being expected, and these are probably the moments where you notice the magnificent production, especially on bass and guitars. The inclusion of a coda in triple metre gives real momentum to this closing section, especially with the drums playing around with rhythmic changes.
The bass-and-vocal duet takes centre stage on “La sequera”. The latter, in particular, keeps favouring dragged-out melodies loaded with delay and reverb — the band’s signature. The full band renews the strength of the verse and leads us into passages full of riffs and interesting arrangements, making use of the always-effective, extraordinary trick of running different intensity levels through the track, which also lets the voice take the wheel once again. The tightly built closing section might just leave us with this record’s brightest moments.
The magnificent tremolo effect achieved by bass and guitar on “Nana del caballo grande”, together with subtle percussion and other sound effects, creates an ideal setting for the opening phrases, which dig into the roots of the most nostalgic folk music. A kind of prog jota, of which very few examples exist. The surprising sonic explosion, while keeping the same composition, adds real depth to this thoroughly outstanding track.
And we reach this record’s conclusion with “L’ascensió”. The essence of the whole album is distilled into this track. We find the roughness of the distortions, the slow tempos authoritatively steered by the rhythm section, the voice once again rising languidly, and passages of forceful intensity mixed with much more minimalist sections — constantly marked by compositions full of grief and sorrow.
It’s always a pleasure, taste aside, to listen to a band that’s ours — local, close to home — putting out work of a quality that has nothing to envy in bands of international standing. So it’s well worth listening to them attentively and, while we’re at it, making the most of the first chance we get to see them live and give them our support.
Writer: David Sàez