VERICUETOS

Gualberto is the name of the guitarist-sitarist that achieved success in the early 70's with hard-rock group Smash, whose first two albums serves as reference in the Hispanic world! During the recording of the latter (where Gualberto Garcia Perez played on sitar, guitar and fused Smash into weird psych rock), he started to work on a solo album that was not to see the day until the late 70's, but after he split away from Smash, he changed directions dramatically turning more towards Indian music and more adventuresome progressive rock. His group took on his name but from the writing credits on this album it seems a fairly democratic affair.

This totally instrumental second album (actually the third if you count the one recorded during Smash) is actually a very symphonic affair where the Indian influences are sometimes felt but well integrated as not to shock the mostly ultra-symphonic nature of the music. The opening track (winter Light in English) is a weird cross between western classical music, Arabic influences and sitar-laced themes that escapes further description, but it must be heard to be understood. Continuing Dialogue (English title) fuses romantic classical into rock rythms full of synths layers and can fit the term ultra symphonic, so much so that it is a bit awkward/corny to my ears. The third track rounding up side 1 is more energetic and can be considered as one of the highlights as the middle sections allows for good musical interplay.

Side 2 picks-up on the ultra-symphonic rock prog of the first side but clearly from the second track's first moments, the latter is the main attraction with a good droning violin and a slowly evolving moody crescendo.

Although a good symphonic album dating from Spain's liberation of its ugly dictatorship, this album is of a correct level but has failed to raise my excitement more than on a few minutes at a time.