CARNAVAL DE LAS VICTIMAS

In the one hundredth month after his previous release, the superb La Potestad, the multi-instrumentalist Alejandro Matos, hailing from Argentina, comes with a new offering: Carnaval de las Victimas. On this album, he does almost everything on this own, assisted by a drummer and a few guest musicians appearing on a single track.

The cover artwork. which at first sight seems to depict the Nazgûl spending a holiday on ice, visualizes the concept of this album: an allegory of a view on the present time, in which people, waving with swords and with daggers stabbed in their backs, see themselves as supporting, generous and intelligent and others as monsters which may be killed; a world in which perpetrators cannot be told from victims. People celebrate carnival waving with swords, unaware of the daggers which are stabbed in their backs. This theme is worked out in nine excellent compositions, hence the nine cloaked and faceless figures on the cover. The lyrics are dark and metaphoric, the music is an eclectic blend of progressive rock and influences from Argentina, like on his earlier albums, only a bit heavier now and then, but also with more acoustic passages.

The album opens with Bautismo de Vidrio, starting with some piano notes before the song kicks in. It is a melodic track with an acoustic section in the middle of the track. Hereafter comes "Un Million de Muscas", a rather quirky track, mostly in 7/4. Crisis de Alegria is a short intro to Terror a los Despertares, which features a background of buzzing guitar sounds in the first section of the song.

These tracks, already excellent on their own, are the warming-up for the next ones. Los Alienados, clocking out a few seconds before the 11-minute mark, is the longest track on the album, and one of my favourite tracks from recent years. It starts with some spoken words before kicking in with time signature changes, alternating 13/8 and 4/4. The acoustic section in the second half is a highly enjoyable listen to my ears.

The marching El Espejo de los Monstruos, my second favourite track on this album, features a saxophone in the third minute.

La Máquina de Leer Idiotas starts with a melodic vocal backed by percussion. The second half is mostly instrumental with piano and percussion alternated with heavy passages. After the last verse it segues into Pintoresque, some sort of parade to which more counterpoint and cacophony are added as the track proceeds, until it ceases and ends with Secuela, a one minute track with the last vocals.

Carnaval de las Victimas is a rock solid album, well worth the three years it took in the making. It maintains the level of its two predecessors, Freak and La Potestad. Clocking out at 53 minutes and a half, it is somewhat shorter and there are no epics this time. The vocal performance is good throughout the album. This album is, from a textual as well as from a musical point of view, somewhat easier to get into than its predecessors, but the potential to grow on you is not less. I think the 5-star rating fits this album best.

My filing system has again let me down, so I have no idea how I am currently listening to the sixth album from Argentinian multi-instrumentalist Alejandro Matos, who is joined on his first release in nine years by drummer Javier García Atencio and a few guests who only contribute on just one track each. There are no real epics, but there are a few which break the ten-minute barrier, but there are also some which are less than two. The vocals are mid-range and interesting without being dynamic, and possible I would have got more from them if I could understand the lyrics, but they appear to be in Spanish, so I stand no chance.

This does very much have a solo musician feel about it as while everything is interesting there is nothing which ever takes it to the next level, the result being an album which is okay but is rarely more than that. I note on PA he is listed as Crossover, but if his earlier albums are anything like this one then that is more for him crossing through different sub-genres as opposed to be wonderfully melodic. There are times when he appears at a loss for an idea and switches between different lead instruments in an attempt to keep everything interesting, but it does not really work. At times it is really quite pedestrian, and while one can appreciate the changes from distorted electric guitar to classical and the use of accordion sounds and interesting keyboards there is nothing here to consistently grab one's attention. Between 2000 and 2009 he released four albums, then there was a six-year gap to the fifth, and now a nine-year gap to this one, so I am not sure if there will be another. Not one I would hold my breath for.