Alejandro Silva Power Cuarteto - Orden & Caos - 4/5
http://www.mediafire.com/d
http://www.mediafire.com/d
The album begins with a buildup into a pretty cool, but generic riff. The song basically continues on with cool guitar leads and solos for a few minutes, without changing dynamics much but with some cool guitar work.
The following song, 4+ starts off like a metal blues song and then goes into another typical metal riff, then following suit with the first song, has a guitar lead over the riff. It then dives into a spotlight guitar section which, I must say, is very cool.
In a very welcome change of pace, the next song, Jakobshavn (sp?) starts with a slap bass intro, building into a guitar riff over it. Followed by a dynamic shift into something slower and more "sparse" in the riffing, this song is immeadiatly my favorite (so far). Reverting back to a bass spotlight, with a new guitar piece over it and then incorporating a guitar solo over it, this song demonstrates the true songwriting abilities of this band far better than either of the songs preceding it.
Marea Solar, again showing more dynamics of this band features a great, funk-metal intro, followed by an emotional, phrygian-sounding guitar solo over acoustic chords. Incorporating one of my favorite guitar solo techniques of shredding over a mellow backing track, this is another very impressive song on the album.
The next song, Retrievolucion, follows a more pop-metal template with very catchy, '80s hair riffs that are totally fine in my book, especially with the soloing going on over them. Plus most neo-classical metal guitarists these days tend to have at least a few songs like this, anyways (John Petrucci comes to mind, so does Vai). In fact, this song is very remincient of John Petrucci's album Suspended Animation.
The next song, BlackIron, starts in a way that I've never heard before. It's very original and creative, and immeadiatly hooked me in. The song continues to please.
The next track, Mantis A, is remincient of guitarist such as Marco Sfogli and Guthrie Govan, incorporating great tone, with technique and feeling in a less metal attitude.
Contrasting the previous song, Omiricon, starts off heavy as fuck with a groove riff going into a very prog metal section. The riffing and soloing in the rest of the song is top notch.
Prostitucion is another song that fits under the funk-metal category, but definitely more funk than metal. This is quite similar to Red Hot Chili Peppers in the beginning, then moving foreward into much more metal funk, then again changing dynamics into a soft section. I'm writing as I'm listening and am astounded by the sharp lefts this song takes, making it by far an album highlight.
Respira, the following track, has a very Van Halen feel to the riffing. It's a standard hard rock song, breaking no new ground, but still a nice break in the album, as it features vocals for the first time. The singing is subpar, I must say, but it's not terrible. Definitely the worst song on the album.
El Reto is a very metal song, which I am happy to hear on this album once again. Definitely one of the best songs on the album, the riffing is unstoppable.
The penultimate track takes the album back to neo-classical metal and is a very solid song.
The album closer, MetalHimno, begins with fanfare, then it is interrupted by an awesome drum beat, going into a prog rock/metal section, ending the album.
Overall, this is an awesome album that I'd recommend to anyone from non metal fans to the biggest die hard in the group. The guitar playing and riffing are great, and they certainly aren't afraid to take a step away from metal and delve into other genres.
By B. Meiselles
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