H+

Let's start simple and clear: OMG!

The more years pass, the more I love this band. Hailing from Mexico City, Alpha Lighting System have become one of the most ambitious and talented progressive rock bands of the last years.

After receiving positive feedback from their first US show in Chicago's Progtoberfest (which was recorded and released as an stunning live album); after having won a universal competition created by System of a Down's Serj Tankian; and after successful supporting The Pineapple Thief in their visit to Mexico City, the quartet arrives now with a magnificent third album entitled 'H+', whose leitmotif is transhumanism.

This new record (wonderfully mastered by Bruce Soord, by the way), keeps the high quality this band uses to offer on their music, however, after several years of being together, getting along and understand each other not only as friends, but as bandmates, I could say this album is a notorious work of art in all topics: composition, lyrics, concept, music, production. Sadly, local people has not realized the monster is in front of us, a band that should have much more attention.

The first track of the album was also the first single. 'Allison', you might have recognized it if you already own their live album, because this was wonderfully performed at the Progtoberfest. This is a six-minute song that works as a solid introduction to the transhuman concept of the album: "still she dreams of the impossible", Alam sings, and it is impossible not to think of that girl named Allison, in fiction and in reality, full of emotions.

'Mirage' has a softer sound, it is a thoughtful song that questions the importance of emotions and their role in a daily basis. We are as free as we allow to, but the hard thing is to realize about it. I love the music and its melancholic sound, I love the guitar solo that comes after four minutes and that last part in which intensity increases a little bit finishing with a maybe simple but really deep phrase: "I feel alive".

In '2872' they surprise us by a wonderful violin introduction made by guest musician Alena Stryuchkova, then the cadence of bass notes along with the soft guitars and keys, invite us to close the eyes and feel the entrance of a future world when love still reigns, but where acceptance is maybe the most important concept. JG's drum work is delicious here, several figures, amazing changes every here and there; but as I have mentioned in previous reviews, a thing I love from this band is that the four members are equally important, the four are prodigious musical souls.

A wonderful 23-minute suite divided in 5 tracks comes next. It is entitled 'H+' and its introduction comes with 'Against The Tyranny of Our Genes', a nice one-minute track made by electronic piano with a futuristic sound that leads us to 'Δ', a track completely different from the previous they have offered in the album. The sound is much heavier, close to the prog metal realm. The energy they deliver is great, strings together create a strong sound, but there keyboards put that amazing blend of symphonic and spacey rock, which is one of the band's main features, their facility to touch different musical realms and unify them to create their own ALS' sound. The mood and tempo changes here are wonderful, it is a 9-minute journey through different atmospheres, like being in space surrounded by geometric figures and learning from them every single minute. The musicianship is simply wow, to be honest, impossible not to love the whole track, but my favorite part arrives at minute 6. Extraordinary.

Science fiction has always been part of ALS's music, we can tell by their album titles, song titles, cover arts and of course, sound. Another example of this is '', which starts with a spacey electronic sound, it feels like floating in space and questioning what is around us, but also what is inside us. I love Joshua's delicate guitar sound here, and how Jaco's bass can share different emotions. Though the first two and a half minutes are quite calm, there is an explosive passage that arrives with lush keyboards that are greatly accompanied by drums, taking the listener to another level.

'life.exe' is a song the band first released in 2018 and became the winner of that contest Tankian organized. This is a short instrumental track that has so many elements on it, a progressive rock feast that has some juicy jazz passages. There are several changes, it is like having a puzzle and all the pieces float and have their go to stand out but always need each other to do a perfect match. This amazing piece leads us to another outstanding one: 'EV0LV3'. I had the chance to be one of the first people to listen to this track last year (thank you JG), and I remember I was blown away, the words "OMG" didn't cease to repeat in my mind, as I was witnessing a sample of what this album would be about. This instrumental track starts with a chaotic sound, I feel like running here, running maybe from myself, my demons, my desires. It is important when music remind us we are humans that feel and have emotions; sometimes music is a metaphor of what we are experiencing in real life, it is our decision if we want to grab its messages. But well, when you listen to this track, I bet you will repeat it 2, 3 or more times.

The album finishes with 'Gone'. The sound of rain opens the gate to this final journey. Is there life after death? What will happen to us when we die? So many genuine questions could be brought while listening to this piece. 'Life fade out forever; your eyes got closed forever', says Alam, and I can't help but questioning my place on Earth in a moment of introspection. Despite being the longest track here, it might be the gentlest one to listen to, I mean, not only prog rock fans could dig it, but music fans in general. It is a calm composition that will leave our minds thinking a lot.

What a gem, really. Long live Alpha Lighting System.

Enjoy it!

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