CONTRACORRIENTE

Vocals are rather average and passionless (even if sung in Spanish), melodies are rather weak and great songs are absent from most of this album. "Contracorriente" is a bundle of short compositions with little feeling to tell the truth.

I am desperately looking for some vibes in here. And the neo-heavy "Praga" is not the type of track that can change my mind although it can be considered as one of the best here (somewhat Tull reminiscent). This Spanish band is definitely not playing great music. At times, some fine violin is highlighting the whole, but these moments are just too scarce to be convincing.

The most complex and interesting song from this average album is "Catarsis". It features splendid violin, a great band cohesion, and intricate passages. If only more of this type would have been featured!

Unfortunately, right after a good track, one has to endure some pop-prog of the poorest vein with "Días de Vino". And the ballad "Fuego Intenso" won't add anything to my passion for this band. Still, the closing guitar solo is one of the best part of this album.

The music presented is at times quite decent ("Luna Llena") but globally, it is of little enchantment to my ears. Creativity is just next door IMHHO.

The best of this album resides in its closing number ("Lástima por el mundo"): moving keys and some famous vocalized parts combined with a subtle and melodic guitar work is by far the best achievement of the band so far.

Two stars.