WALKING ON AN EARTHLIKE PLANET

It is amazing how a band this young has created such a big album!

Alpha Lighting System is a new Mexican band which I discovered last year while looking for some albums in a store, I saw their album and feel attracted by its cover art, but mainly by a sticker which mentioned that the album had been produced by the same Billy Sherwood, so I did not hesitate and bought it and man, my first reaction while listening to it was "whaaaat?, this is wonderful", so I contacted the band via Facebook and later attended to one of their shows, a show that left me speechless because it was clear that the musicians are equally good as composers and as performers.

This trio of really young guys is composed by Alam Hernández, Jaco Jácome and Joshua San Martin, complemented in their live shows by Juan Gabriel Hernández (Alam's father) who is also a great musician and person. They managed to contact Billy Sherwood, sharing him their sound and concept and as far as I know, he said yes without blinking and participated in the production of Walking on an Earhtlike Planet, their album debut, released on August 2015, which features six songs and a total time of 55 minutes, a progressive rock album that blends its symphonic, space and metal sides, with a concept behind the music, a futuristic concept that talks about a man named Brian Nicole who was chosen to be part of Project 8, a project that collects the most intelligent people in the world and takes them to a planet called Suspiria. So please, besides enjoying the amazing music, pay attention to the lyrics and enjoy this musical sci-fi novel.

The album starts with "Polar Shifts Due to the Change of the Gravitational Pull of the Sun", what a title. A song that soon become one of my preferred here because it is the introduction to the story, and also because since the first moments I could notice that this trio has exquisite talent that I am sure will lead them to further places and successful moments. What first caught my attention was the sound of keyboards, totally in the progressive rock vein, sometimes reminding me of some Neo Prog acts and sometimes some metal oriented ones. The song has also great guitar solos and wonderful bass notes that are always greatly complemented by the drums. Complex, intelligent, challenging, a wonderful song without a doubt.

"A Place Like Home" has a catchier sound, however what I love from this track is that the lyrics are divided in two voices: first The Narrator and later Brian Nicole (the main character), however I must be honest and say that I discovered it until I read the lyrics on the booklet, because actually the two voices are sung by the same main singer, Alam, so maybe a different main singer for a different character would have been better. The song has a softer sound, friendlier and catchy as I've already said, however with the minutes it becomes more and more interesting as well as more complex and addictive. "Blaring Space" is the shortest song with only four minutes. It is like an intermission, a visual track whose spacey sounds will immediately make put images on your mind, it is like a dream, like the same Brian Nicole says.

"The Arrival" is an excellent track, it is crucial on the history and musically it brings one of the most wonderful guitar solos of the albums (minute 5), made of course by Joshua San Martin. Another think I love of Alpha Lighting System is that they get better and better while the minutes pass; for instance in this track the first part did not make me fall in love immediately, but from that solo until the very end I felt trapped under a salad of sounds and floating on a musical universe full of addictive particles.

"Building at 360 Mph" is the longest composition, reaching the 15-minute mark. As you can imagine, here the band delight us with a magnificent blend of elements, musical styles, atmospheres, nuances and textures. It is evident they have developed an own sound and have manage to give the listener an intelligent work of art , which means, at least to me, that they have the potential to become one of the most successful Mexican prog rock bands ever (I am not exaggerating, and I really hope they keep this amazing work). Well, returning to the song, I think with this track they reach the climax of greatness, making me feel terribly excited by the sound, the story and the high expectations I have on them. There are a lot of changes here, so be prepared to a rollercoaster of sounds and emotions made by a young promising band that will make some noise in the near future. You will remember these words.

Last but not least it comes "Side Effect" which believe me, is a superb composition. First class art-rock, progressive rock with a clear modern sound, a blend of symphonic rock with spacey atmospheres and some heavier, metal-oriented tunes. The band has a truly gifted sense of composition, there are no forced passages, all flow and progress naturally in spite of the countless changes in rhythm and mood. Musically they are excellent, each one in their respective instrument doing what they love, that's the formula to success, they complement each other and create a solid song that finishes a truly solid album from a (again) promising band.

This is a wonderful debut, maybe the vocals are their weakest side because I think none of them is a true singer, but well, it does not affect my listening pleasure, because I have been, am and will be happy with this album every single time I listen to it. Congratulations!

Enjoy it!

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