REFLEJOS DE UN ENCIERRO

MR. HYDE was founded in Valparaiso in 2007. Unlike many other prog bands from Chile, they didn't orientate to the ordinary Symphonic or Neo Prog with vocals, but to fairly original and eclectic instrumental prog. The quartet of guitarist, keyboardist, bassist and drummer went straight ahead into composing work, and in the beginning of the following year they had a live set of their own material. A self-released EP Nuevos Aires came out in 2008.

The band's sole album Reflejos de un Encierro deals with themes of loneliness and isolation. The soundscapes are very delicate and nuanced. The ambientish opening track 'Despertar' features a delay guitar that reminds the listener of Pink Floyd. 'Rebaños' starts as a classical piano solo and later approaches metal, and the very sensitive 'Vigilia' contains beautiful flute played by a guest musician. Elsewhere on the album there are also some psychedelic, heavy or experimental moments, but the whole doesn't feel uncoherent, quite the contrary, it feels very thoughtful.

A very fine instrumental prog album, so it's a pity there are hardly any reviews.

MR HYDE were formed in 2007 by the drummer and guitarist of this band. They would self-release an EP in 2008 before releasing their official debut in 2011 on Mylodon Records. There's a new bass player on "Reflejos De Un Encierro" and he's very impressive. But then so is the whole band as these are players to say the least. A muscular record that drifts into Prog Metal at times, but there are a lot of synths and contrasts on this album.

This is an all instrumental record with the theme of loneliness. Check out the album art in that regard. We get some guest concert flute on "Vigilia", as well as some vibes and percussion from another guest. KING CRIMSON did come to mind, as well as Fusion at times. Under 48 minutes over nine tracks, and I feel the opener and closer are my favourites, with that track with the concert flute being my least favourite. Other than that one this is a very consistent album. I really enjoyed spinning this last week.

I do like that opener called "Despertar" where we get 2 1/2 minutes of spacey atmosphere until that repetitive guitar line kicks in. Bass too but it's still spacey. Drums follow and man this is good, a nice build here. The closer "Claustrofobia" is fairly short at under five minutes and there are four tracks in total around this length. This one gets heavy at times as in heavy duty. I like the light show from the guitar when the song brightens around 1 1/2 minutes in. Piano and heaviness before 3 minutes and the ending is fairly explosive before drifting into space.

The song I'm not that into with the flute is actually pretty good, but it's the one I'm not "all in" on. I have to say that the keyboardist is the wild card here. Just a real nice display of synths on here plus piano and organ. It seems like there's always synths adding atmosphere. And the drummer is so crisp and precise, I really like his playing. The guitarist is fairly melodic most of the time but I like some of those heavier expressions. And the bass is great, especially on that fifth and eighth tune, but throughout.

One of my favourite memories in my exploration of new music was my journey through Chile and the many talented bands. EXSIMIO and MAR DE ROBLES also from Chile might be the closest as far as "sound" goes with MR HYDE.