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Kotebel - Structures CD (album) cover

STRUCTURES

Kotebel

 

Symphonic Prog

3.06 | 34 ratings

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Cesar Inca
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
4 stars With this debut album, Kotebel made quite an entry into the conteporary prog scene. Having started as a vehicle for simply the sonic adventures of keyboardist/mlti- instrumentalist Carlos Plaza, Kotebel showed in "Structures" a well defined musical personality, a personality that will be enriched and enhanced on later efforts while Kotebel properly became a band. An all-instrumental album, the band's symphonic style is influenced by Oldfield, Anthony Phillips and Wakeman, which means that it combines a strong confluence of bucolic colorfulness, texturial ambiences and stylish bombast - all it all, it comes down to captivating beauty. The first two 'Structures' pretty much fit perfectly the aforesaid gerenal description, with added touches of melodic jazz-fusion: this is where Plaza's keyboard style bears a resemblance to jan Hammer's soft side and, therefore, Kit Watkins as well. With these two tracks the listener might as well feel in awe and ready to go on until the end with his full attention focused on the sonic display. 'Structure 3' shows guest Omar Acosta's flue input for the first time in the album. The flute lines allow to create an additional bucolic sense to the keyboard orchestrations that are developed all the way: this piece sounds like a mixture of classic Wakeman and Argentinean fusion hero Lito Vitale. The recurring motifs and their delicate variations enjoy an 8-minute expansion, never getting boring or tiring. The fourth 'Structure' is the shortest one, very new-agey actually. In contrast, 'Structure 5' is the longest one, filling 11 and a half minutes of the album. Mostly sustained on a 3/4 tempo that is very typical of Latin American Creole folklore, it really bears a distinctive folkish feel, recycled through heavy symphonic orchestrations and moderate bombast. Once again, Plaza's flute serves as an essential sonic input for the overall mood. The floating atmosphere that had set the core of 'Structure 3' returns here with a vengeance, creating a mixture of magical emotion and etheral beauty. 'Structure 6' is the piece with a more upbeat vibe, portraying massive cosmic ingredients in the keyboard department, something that might as well have come out of the vaults of Wakeman's "No Earthly Connection" era... only in Kotebel style. By the time we get to the 5th minute we find a "false" climax that serves as a prelude to the final segment, a slow serenade in which the flute is heavily featured. The last 'Structure' also has an exciting motif during its first section, leading later to a more varied section in which pompous passages and dreamy adornments alternate each other. Thelast minute is occupied by a reprise of the opening motif. General balance: this is a hell of a debut album, arguably lacking a bit of the sonic power that Kotebel has nowadays, yet incarnating the multiple sources that take place in Plaza's musical vision. "Structures" is a must of current progressive rock
Cesar Inca | 4/5 |

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