 Style: sympho prog
Country: mexico
Audio: ape 818k
Size: 477 mb
from Gibraltar :
Absolutely superb symphonic instrumental band. Imagine the very best of Tony Banks and Steve Hackett (in particular, Trick of the Tail and Wind and Wuthering) and combine it with the power and majesty of Yes ("Awaken," Tales From Topographic Oceans) and you only begin to understand what this band is about. A must. A steaming hot band with ALMOST enough chops to pull it off. "Cuentos De Arquicia" is a blistering, energetic, complex instrumental built on a tritone chord progression. The players make a fair number of mistakes, mostly in timing. But given the complexity and speed of the music, one can ignore the sloppiness. This tune cooks! The second tune, "Manantial," is a slow, floating, dreamlike instrumental with nice bass work and a melodic guitar part. Not bad. Iconoclasta sounds like a band with great potential. This was their first album, and you can tell. Iconoclasta is part of the "new generation" of progressive music still being produced, and one of the few progressive bands from Mexico. While Mexico is not an obvious hot bed of progressive coals, Iconoclasta makes a worthy attempt at creating quality progressive music. Iconoclasta have several albums and one EP, which have recently become available on CD. Iconoclasta's 1983 self-titled first release represents a developing band that is still trying to find a style. Progressive doesn't come naturally from this band. It seems obvious that the band members have a passion for prog rock, but their overall style still sounds like a smattering of other bands rather than a cohesive whole. I keep getting the feeling that I've heard it all before. "Cuentos De Arquicia," the first cut, sounds almost popish, with a bouncy keyboard line. But Iconoclasta's sound develops in the second cut, and improves with each tune. The main instrument is the electric guitars, with the keyboards secondary, though frequently used. Ricardo Ortegon is a capable guitarist, but needs to find a few more tones for his guitar. It seems that Ortegon's first exposure to electric guitar was the "two slightly distorted guitars" from Mike Oldfields Tubular Bells. That tone is predominant throughout the album, though Ortegon breaks out from that tone somewhat in Reminiscencias. By "Memorias De Un Hechicero," I was tapping my foot and bouncing my head, despite myself. That is a good sign. "Estudio VI" is a guitar study over a progressive keyboard rhythm. Flamenco and other Mexican styles really surface in this tune, though other Mexican rhythms can be detected throughout. But fortunately, this album isn't JUST flamenco guitar and progressive rhythm. Reminiscencias is a far better conceived thematic work than Iconoclasta, addressing the band's pacifist anti-nuclear stance and their criticism of the arms race. However, I couldn't detect this by listening to the new singer, since the lyrics are falsetto Spanish. Fortunately, the focus is on the instruments and not the voice. The music is thoughtful and introspective, progressing toward a unified whole rather than a slapped together amalgamation. The 16'40 opus, "Reminiscencias De Un Mundo Sin Futuro" (Reminiscences Of A World Without A Future), is the centerpiece of this album. Though I think this epic cut starts out a little slow, the tune develops rather nicely, again showing Mexican influences throughout. This tune is a very good piece that definitely has its moments. I really would like to hear some of the later Iconoclasta. After listening to their first two attempts, I can definitely see a decent band in development, one that could become excellent with maturity. If Iconoclasta continues in the same direction, they may forge a unique, quality style of their own that pays homage to the best of the Italian progressive stylings and the band's Mexican origin. I haven't heard the others, but Soliloquio is supposed to have a fusion tinge, while remaining symphonic, and Adolescencia is supposed to be squarely in the rock-jazz vein. -- Mike Taylor Mexican progressive group. Largely instrumental, but the occasional Spanish vocals are very good. With the exception of intentional use of Mexical folk instruments, there is no trace of Mexican music (e.g., mariachi), the sound is much more like the Mahavishnu Orchestra or one of the Italian progressive groups. The best-known Mexican progressive, and for good reason! Their first two albums are true classics, with intricate arrangements for double guitar (electric and acoustic) and virtuosic keyboards. The first album emphasizes the guitar, and quite well. The second one features some great keyboard playing by Rosa Flor Moreno, especially on "Era De Metabolismos Tecnologicos", in which she plays some stunningly complex synth parts. The 18-minute "Remeniscencias de un Mundo sin Futur" features some uncredited vocals. Both highly recommended. -- Mike Ohman
Suite Mexicana/Soliloquio combines a hard-to-find EP called Suite Mexicana combined with the full-length Soliloquio. The music is more flavoured with Mexican influences than their other material, but still recalls the spirit of the Italian bands of the seventies. La Rencarnacion De Maquiavelo is the latest release from what is regarded as Mexico's premier prog rock band. The music continues in the same style as their prior material, very much influenced by the mid-seventies Italian sound, though somewhat updated, with the presence of digital-sounding keyboards. The sound is a little more aggressive, with the lead guitar operating with more prominence than previously. As always, the music is mostly instrumental, underpinned by keyboards and guitar, and strewn about with fast-paced, symphonic passages. I have the CD of their first two releases. Not only is there over 80 minutes of music on it, but it's all good. It's almost all instrumental with chants and vocals occasionally thrown in. Definitely a step above the average symphonic band, Iconoclasta features polyrhythymic guitar/keys/bass lineup. The guitar is a bit sloppy (kind of like Steve Hackett's early sound) and heavily distorted which makes me think this was a low budget recorded but the overall quality is good. Very few tracks have vocals. Those that do are in Spanish or seem like orchestrated choruses. The self titled debut is one of the *very* best albums recorded in the 1980s. Highly recommended. La Rencarnacion de Maquiavelo is the recent release from Mexico's premiere band. However my first question, after noting that the band is now ten years old, was, "Have they sold out yet?." Seems like all the best do eventually. I'm happy to say that La Rencarnacion de Maquiavelo is *not* musically compromising at all. They may have lost a bit of an edge over the years, but not enough to warrant any complaints. In fact, this release is very much in the same style of the rest of their albums. That is where I have a problem. While Iconoclasta remains one of the best instrumental ensembles recording today, their style is no longer fresh. When they released their debut in 1983, in was an innovative, adventurous and unique departure from the dominant sound of the time. In 1992 they sound largely the same. While this is better than a commercial sell-out, it is still stagnation. But La Rencarnacion is a very good CD to add to your collection and I recommend it, especially if you've heard and enjoyed earlier Iconoclasta releases. As for personnel, the band is now a four piece, with former guitarist Ricardo Moreno taking the keyboard chores his sister Rita used to handle. While Ricardo is a very accomplished musician, he lacks Rita's virtuousity. Not to mention that it sounds like he's playing a casio on most cuts (get a Moog, Ricardo!) Bassist Nohemi D'Rubin performs spectacularly as usual. I'd vote her in as top female bassist anyday. Her vocals grace the only non-instrumental track on the CD. The band is rounded out by guitarist Ricardo Ortegon and drummer Victor Baldovinos. Baldovinos is key in the jerky time changes that makes this band so likeable. While he falls back on the double-bass more than he used to, he remains a quality percussionist. Overall, I give it a thumbs up. People raved and I succumbed. I regretted it. The first two albums sound like kids messing about...really sloppy and obvious.
01. Cuentos de Arquicia 5:13
02. Dorian 6:20
03. Manantial 4:44
04. Memorias de un Hechicero 7:05
05. Estudio VI 5:50
06. Origen Cъspide y Muerte 6:37
07. Fuera de Casa 8:32
08. La Gestaciуn de Nuestro Mundo 3:11
09. El hombre sobre la Tierra 9:08
10. La era de los Metabolismos Tecnolуgicos 5:45
11. Reminiscencias de un Mundo sin Futuro 17:54
Ricardo Moreno / electric & acoustic & classical guitars, synthesizer
Ricardo Ortegon / electric guitar
Nohemi D'Rubin / bass, acoustic guitar, orquestrator
Rosa Flora Moreno / acoustic piano, organ, orquestrator, synthesizer
Victor Baldovinos / drums, percussion
Rosa Echevarría de Moreno / vocals (7)
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