LA CIUDAD DE LOS SUEÑOS

A great prog metal 'lbum from Argentina!

They are Uranian, whose debut album entitled 'La ciudad de los sue'os' offers the heavy side of progressive rock. Lately a lot of new bands and artists have emerged from South America, in Argentina particularly, we can find a wonderful amount of quality music in the last ten years, with progressive rock going from its most symphonic side, passing through the jazz-fusion one, and reaching the metal face of it. Uranian with their 2011 release, have entered to this wonderful realm, with a strong first album.

Instrumental progressive metal is what we will find here, with ten compositions that make a total time of 69 minutes; though I personally have some ridiculous issues with long albums, this time, I could actually enjoy all those minutes, which show the band's high expectations and goals. Four members playing the 'basic' instruments (bass, drums, guitar, keyboards) gathered and created this ambitious project, with well-crafted compositions, nice arrangements and clean performances.

It opens with 'Amalgamas de soledad', a few seconds with chording guitars and later the other instruments join creating that inherent heavy sound. What I like here is that since the very first track we can appreciate that the four instruments are essential for the composition, I mean, though there are some guitar riffs, it would not be fair to mention guitar leads the music, not at all, the four of them are indispensable parts of the puzzle.

'Alter ego' is a nice track where keyboards make a cool atmosphere, while drums mark the rhythm, and the strings perfectly complement the structure. Before reaching the second minute, the song slows down, the piano enters in a soft way, followed by very cool bass lines. Later it becomes more emotional due to a guitar riff; and then it creates multiple inner changes. 'Regreso al origen' is closer to the symphonic side of metal, mainly due to the keyboard sound. The song progresses little by little, until after three minutes it reaches its climax, with a spectacular sound made by a guitar riff, a background keyboard and great drums.

'Melanc'lico recuerdo' is a much softer track, in which we can settle down our emotions a little bit; it has a melancholic, reflective sound whose guitar figures perfectly work as motifs. Some minutes later the intensity gradually increases, producing a vertiginous, yet emotional sound. 'Paradoja ancestral' starts with nice and joyful piano, which seconds later is supported by acoustic guitar and drums. Later the electric guitar enters creating repetitive notes that continue with that nice and joyful sound, here they remind me a bit of some 80s/90s rock bands. Though later the song makes some good changes, contrasting its heaviest, with its softest side.

'0 bytes' is one of the longest tracks here, and I love how it begins, with a dramatic, suspicious atmosphere that let our imagination fly, in order to create our own story, our own scenes. This is a complex, ambitious track that let us know the band's compositional skills, along with their performing capacities. There are various changes here, one of the best is when after five mintes it drastically slows down and shares a different mood; there are also great musical scales and also cool changes in the instrument leader. All in all give as a result one of the finest tracks of the album, without a doubt.

'En busca del sol' is a good song in which the bass player makes a wonderful work, easily appreciated. The musicianship is pretty nice (as in the whole album) and what I love is that they don't really have a bombastic or mesmerizing sound, they actually keep a low profile in which there is no need of pretentious or see-how-good-i-am solos. 'Transiciones' is a great track, I like how it starts with a calm rhythm and once again nice bass notes, and seconds later it becomes more powerful and emotional. Later we can listen to bass slaps, accompanied by nice rhythm and lead guitar, and cool keyboard background. Worth mentioning that the drummer also has its moments, he is very constant, but in a few passages he goes out the routine and introduces better figures.

The longest track is 'La ciudad de los sue'os', whose eleven minutes clearly define what the music of Uranian is about. It starts softly, once again I highlight the bass; and then it becomes a bit heavier, creating a nice interlocution between all the instruments. There are different inner little passages in this track, like different pictures in one spot, but all highly related each other. The creative progressive metal sound is greatly represented here, with of course, the almost mandatory guitar riffs. And lastly, the album finishes with 'Un tiempo despu's' which has at first a wonderful soft funky sound implemented by (guess who?) the bass, but later changes to that emotional prog metal Uranian get us used to. The song itself is involving us, until it fades out, so the album finishes.

What a great debut by Uranian, it is not the conventional bombastic prog metal, but I would undoubtedly suggest it to any fan of this genre.

Enjoy it!

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