SENOGUL

The debut album by this modern Spanish group is instrumental heaven. While there are some wordless vocals here and there, the majority of this album is unrelenting, no-holds-barred showcase of creativity, showing off fantastic musical ideas and interplay galore.

"Dr. Gull", a theme that gets revisited several times over the course of the album, opens things off with an accurate expectation of what's to come, while only ever-so-slightly teasing at its full scope. Light and breezy, there's a sort of "coastal sunshine" vibe to this piece that seems to act as a major unifying force over the course of "Senogul's" varied content. That isn't to say that Senogul gets complacent, lying in the sand; not in the slightest. The album weaves its way through a great number of styles (often within individual tracks), the most prominent being guitar-heavy jazz fusion, but at times it encroaches on passages reminiscent of the heavier King Crimson output, blues, and tango. Heck, there's even some bagpipe-sounding material at one point.

The musicianship in this band is phenomenal. As I said before, the interplay is astounding. That, paired with the inspired soloing, and fusion-oriented compositions could warrant some Allman Brothers comparisons (e.g. "Pegasus"), but Senogul's overall sound and vision is obviously much further reaching. Although there are no moments on this album that scream out "masterpiece" to me, I would still strongly recommend this to any number of prog fans, whether you're looking for some well-done instrumental fusion, or a one-of-a-kind musical journey around the world. 4 stars.