VOCES DEL BOSQUE

Well my new review for an Astralis album.

I could catch a copy- that i will delete -from this album at the web.

I ,ve listened to it several times. I must say this album is quite better than Astralis first one.

I found the first one not original because in Chile there is a basis of folk and rock to be influence of an original piece of work.

And that is what happened in this one.

Musicians forgot the so typical influences of Pendragon and Marillion(the masters of neo prog) and they went to some original folk prog simmilar to the Jaivas and other Chile,s folk music but with a little influence (i think) of Italian symph prog bands as Le Orme. I must say vocals are very similar from Le Orme,s vocalist.

A good,well played..with nice arrangements album. Good musicians and good music of course.

4 stars

Fast forward in 2009 Astralis, having produced some noise around their name with ''Bienvenida al interior'', release their second album ''Voces del bosque''.As with their debut the album was exclusively recorded at the band's own studio in Santiago de Chile, this time though with a new keyboardist, as Mauricio Gaggero had took over the duties in the place of Juan Pablo Gaete.''Voces del bosque'' was delivered through Mylodon Records and once more the compositions were all credited to the band's leader Patricio Vera-Pinto.

The style has not changed dramatically.It is a somewhat less symphonic and more atmospheric Neo Prog effort with downtempo arrangements offered through six long compositions with Vera-Pinto's guitar work in evidence and nice keyboard colors supporting.With links to the emphatic Polish Prog stylings and notable references to the sound of PENDRAGON, PALLAS and MARILLION, ''Voces del bosque'' explores the more accesible territories of Neo Prog with expressive vocals, strong guitar solos, bombastic riffs and striking melodies as its leading characreristics, while the more minimalistic guitar textures seem to have also a slight FLOYD-ian flavor.An excellent production supports the rich sound of Astralis and the synthesizers of Gaggero have also plenty to offer, from MARK KELLY-like floating solos to more grandiose and cinematic soundscapes.The complaint comes from some quite stretched minimalistic passages with a spacey atmosphere, led either by keyboards or guitar distortions, where the band seems to have lost its inspiration.

''Voces del bosque'' is not a masterpiece, propably it is even slightly worse than Astralis' debut.But the mass of memorable riffing, melodic solos and well-refined retro influences mark this as a quite promising release.Recommended.

I was blown away by Astralis their wonderful debut album Bienvenida Al Interior from 2006. But I had to wait 3 years for the successor entitled Voces Del Bosque. And even 4 years on their thrid album Fantas'a de Invierno, from 2013. The most important element in Astralis their music is creating pleasant and compelling atmospheres with emotional, pretty distinctive vocals and moving guitar work. To me Astralis often sounds as the 'Latin American Neo Prog answer to Pendragon'.

Looking at the line-up on this second album I notice one change: keyboard player Juan Pablo Gaete is replaced by Mauricio Gaggero. But listening to this new CD I can hardly hear any difference between these two keyboard players, again we can enjoy choir-Mellotron-like layers, fluent synthesizer flights, swelling church-organ, soaring keyboards and pleasant piano runs. But the focus is on Patrico Vera his moving guitar work, with lots of howling runs and propulsive riffs.

Especially in the titletrack : from tender to very sensitive in the bombastic, very moving closing section.

In the song Caminos Internos : powerful and flowing in the vein of Nick Barrett.

And the excellent final composition Saraswati: a long, strongly build-up solo with elements from David Gilmour (bluesy) and Carlos Santana (very intense sound), culminating in a compelling final part with propulsive drums and bombastic keyboards, goose bumps!

The two short songs sound a bit different: a playful tune with delicate interplay between guitar and keyboard flute in Los Pasantes and catchy neo-prog with tasteful guitar and keyboards in N'ctar De Luz. But in general Astralis sounds as on their debut CD, the best example is my highlight Est's Aqu': after a dreamy intro, a slow rhythm with howling guitar follows, then a mindblowing part (play it loud!) with an atmosphere between ominous with a swelling church organ, a soft but propulsive bass sound, sensitive electric guitar runs and dramatic vocals and finally a slow, very compelling rhythm with moving guitar, great!

I am sure this Latin American Neo Prog answer to Pendragon will delight the fans, because Astralis have delivered an album with emotion (typical for Latin American prog) as the main ingredient, well done, it was worth waiting 3 years!