CHERCÁN

From the serpentine beauty of Chile comes this impressive sonic surprise, already gathering rave reviews from the global prog community (which seemingly enjoys sharing the latest buzz) and surely destined to a most successful future. Why, may you ask? At first listen, this veteran prog musicologist rarely gets to sit back in amazement and wonder in silence at first and later out loud, what the hell is this? I am never prone to cussing or even occasionally shaking my head in bewilderment, but Chercan has certainly qualified to bowl me over! Led by a merciless drummer /percussionist in Rodrigo Gonzalez Mera and a robust bass guitar held by Simon Catalan, while top- notch guitarist Roberto Faundez (My nickname would be 'Frippo') and Matias Bahamondes wielding a wonderfully neurotic saxophone, both add all the fiery molten lava soloing one could dream of in the best of nightmares. Vocalist Martin Pena sings like a man possessed and provides added guitar mania. Guests include a string trio.

Exploding like the Chaiten volcano in the Southern Andes, "La Culpa" is a monstrous slap in the face, a hysterically magnificent torrent of Magma-esque fury (not necessarily the band but the molten fire) that settles into sudden introspection, where the fervent glow of Martin's voice soothes the scalding pyre of sound. But it's only a brief reprieve, as the bulldozer guitar barrage reignites into turbo charged vehemence. It's entirely the band's fault, tectonic and strategic as they are wanting to disturb, shock and perhaps even provoke. Martin screams as if the devil was chasing his tail.

Will our chilenos quiet down now, well it's hard to predict, as the speed at which they shuffle from vigor to smoothness on "Caen Las Hojas Blancas" is unpredictably dizzying, 'Frippo' Faundez manhandles his fretboard with impunity verging on hysteria, as if barking at Matias's brass reptile. Hints of experimental (mostly mental) King Crimson definitely come to mind, the Mel Collins-era in particular, the saxophone utterly devastating! I need to check my heart rate as I feel like a F1 engine overheating. Perhaps a week's rest in Vina del Mar might help. "Kalimba" kindly keeps the pace a tad more sedate but only a tease, for as soon as that nasty twitching guitar starts throttling up, the tempo increases once again, egged on by Martin's pleading vocals that exude pain, suffering and revolt. "Desolacion" is where the string trio settles the sorrow factor with a serene moment o reflection on the previous devastation.

It segues lovingly into "Tiempos Paralelos", a hauntingly gorgeous flutter of ornate calm, acoustic instruments galore, cymbals for percussion, delicate sax work and a slightly more subdued emerging bolero-like beat and scat singing that merge into a vortex of symphonic bliss that came as a complete revelation, closed off by a hazy revisit by the strings, bidding adios! Definitely a highlight track.

Plunging back into their signature percussive heavy style, "Las Mentiras del Muro " has the guitars and the drums working in tandem in whipping up a wall (muro) of dense authority, Simon's rubbery bass provides the much- needed foundation for a sax sortie on the softer side of reverie and melancholia. Chercan cannot help relapsing into boisterous flareups of unforeseen irrationality, as it's their trademark feature. Nothing here is remotely close to prog by numbers. Cohesive abstraction are perhaps better suited words to describe this whirlwind.

And to further the need to inflict unexpected joy on avid listeners worldwide, the two part 12 minute+ suite "Relato de Una Obsesion" naturally comes as an extension of their 'keep you on the edge' methodology . "Quimera" suggests a 6-minute journey into the vast and breathtaking expanses of the Atacama Desert, situated in Northern Chile, a plateau that is as arid as it is beautiful. The second section "El Orate" is where the harsh realities of such a desolate climate and topography can get the senses into a state of obsessive frenzy, where guitars, sax, bass, drums and vocals unite as one, in brazen defiance of any challenges nature wishes to impose. Incredible music.

The onus is now on a peaceful finale, all shimmering light and glittering "Colores", a hauntingly serene arrangement that defies all the previous norms established so forcefully up to this point. The acoustic instruments, the delicate strings and the percolating percussive elements, and a vocalist exuding emotional release all combine to finish of this extraordinarily unique recording.

The only comment I can possibly rely on as proof of the impact it had on me is that in a musical world that has assuredly played every note and combination of notes once or many times before, Chercan comes across as a rare bird in the progressive field. Yet, by all accounts, it's a rather common one in Chile, and allegedly very human- friendly. We are so blessed.

4.5 Andean aviaries.

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