MAR DE ROBLES

Nothing too special here, but this is a pretty nice instrumental prog album that has a bit more to keep you in than most instrumental prog albums. The star here is the saxophone, carrying the lead on a few songs and giving a great point of difference. At times it almost feels like a softer version of Merkabah, particularly in the kind of melodies that the saxophone holds and the way they allow it to carry the songs.

6.0 (3rd listen)

Part of my listening diary from my facebook music blog - www.facebook.com/TheExoskeletalJunction

Mar De Robles' sound draws influences from both the Progressive Rock and Jazz/Fusion styles with light Ethnic colors here and there.It is a very well-balanced work with some incredible instrumental parts next to groovier moments and the expressive vocals of Julio Tobar.Guitars, bass and drums play the prominent roles in Mar De Robles' music, going from very complex workouts and breaks to heavy riffing, melodic solos and jazzy overtones, often with a slight KING CRIMSON inspiration.However their music contains plenty of flute and sax parts to become even richer, at moments these seem to be the leading instruments with some impressive solos.Among the harder passages the band sets series of more minimalistic and calmer soundscapes with light bass, percussion and flutes to soften things up.Smooth Ethnic vibes here and there add the album another welcome dimension and the overall mix is a very tight Fusion of different moods and influences.

An album with a heavy amount of energy and passion behind the well-crafted compositions.If you are enjoying this type of music or even more you are a fan of modern Chilean Prog bands, ''Mar De Robles'' is definitely the album to search for.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.

Some years ago I had the luck of witnessing a great show by this Chilean band, as a support act of my beloved Mexican act Cabezas de Cera, I remember I left the place really happy, surprised of how good they were, and of course, I bought their albums. Mar de Robles are a band from Chile, as I mentioned, who so far have released two albums (I really hope to see a new one soon), their self-titled debut was released on 2003.

Since this first album they show high quality music, original compositions that please the strictest prog fan. The album has eight songs that make a total time of 53 minutes, and it starts with "Introducción al Universo Desconocido" , a one minute intro with radio noises and words in different languages, like listening to the news. It leads to "Involución", an explosive atomic bomb of music, with great saxophone, bass and drums. A minute later it changes, slows down but then it arises again, when the vocals appear and make a fast and nervous sound, accompanied by constant guitar and a cool flute. The final minutes are spectacular!

"Nómadas" has a less explosive sound, actually it is a soft and calm track with nice guitars and flute, the voice is not really my cup of tea, it is good but that's it, in moments I prefer the instrumental passages. After two minutes the song's direction changes, so as the rhythm, the guitar is heavier now. Well, this song is pretty rich because it changes and changes in so little time and space, and all of those changes are for good, none of them are lost so each and every of them are necessary to the music's structure. Love the bass sound here!

"Tantic" starts with some bird whistles, and then bass starts its quirky sound, seconds later it is joined by guitars and drums, and then by flute. After a minute the rhythm becomes faster and more challenging, great guitar riffs appear and a wonderful musicianship is shown. What a great decision was the introduction of percussion, I love how the band manages to work with a percussionist and a drummer.

"Milodon" starts once again with the prominent bass sound, and seconds after is joined by the other instruments. That combination of winds, strings and percussion works really well with Mar de Robles, none of the instruments is the leader, all work together as a team, all have their moments. After that introduction, the guitar makes some cool riffs while bass and percussion work as rhythmical base. Then it is the flute which makes its spot. After two minutes vocals appear, with great lyrics (in the whole album), and then as you imagine, several changes in the song.

"Aire Chileno" has a bombastic start, then those percussions and bass work together and create a fantastic sound, a nervous rhythm which is contra rested with the beautiful flute sound. What is remarkable on this song is the use of harmony vocals in some parts, most evident is at the final part, which sounds pretty good. This is another cool track that shows once again their quality.

"El Flecha" is probably my favorite song here. I love how it is progressing and that fantastic game of nuances and moods that shares. The music creates an atmosphere of anxiety or tension, the rhythm is fast, it provokes something on you, like standing up and look for something in despair until you find it, I love the nervousness incited, and how it all ends. The bass sound is once again great, as well as the percussion which always add a wonderful rhythm.

Finally: "V/S?" which seems to follow the same line as the previous instrumental track. The sound is pretty alike, elaborated and challenging, showing off the musician's skills and creating a strong composition. Nothing new to add actually, though it is an excellent closer.

Mar de Robles is a band I like a lot, I love this debut and believe me, it is just the beginning of a high quality band. My final grade is four stars, recommendable for any prog rock fan.

Enjoy it!

Just to imagine their music there, just think about King Crimson ( who is their huge influence!) with characteristic Stick angular sound, played on a Latin manner - with Chilean flute, Latin folk elements, nice melodic sax, few jazz fusion arrangements and plenty of metal guitars over it.

All the music is not complex, but more dynamic, energetic, oriented more to your heart, not minds. Compositions are quite different, and all the album is pleasant and accessible listening. For sure, you will feel King Crimson shadows on every step there, but it looks guys don't worry too much about it. They just play music they like on their own, Latin metal fusion manner.

Don't expect to find some new things there - this album is great energizer, and it's enough! Not the music for jazz fusion fans for sure, but those with love to KC legacy, Latin flavour and melodic metal guitars would like it I think.

P.S. Mostly instrumental work, it has few vocals on The Mars Volta manner (In Spanish).

My rating is 3+.

Mar De Robles play a very Crimson-inspired type of jazz-rock with touches of Latin music. The hard edged jazzy guitar playing and funky rhythms bring Crimson albums such as Discipline and Thrak to mind. Apart from some occasional Latin vocals, Indígena remains entirely instrumental. The Crimson-goes-fusion style is also very reminiscent of Djam Karet, but when comparing Mar De Robles to that band, Djam Karet is sure the more original and interesting option for me.

One of the main problems is how safe and predictable the album sounds after a while. The playing is competent and energetic, and the ripping guitar solos especially are great, but the compositions disappoint. I miss an element of surprise and adventure in the songs, and at times the album even sounds formulaic and uninspired. There are sparkling moments as on Rancagua Nocturno or Cileneos, but there is also average material such as Mar De Robles and Ubuntu.

This is a solid album from competent musicians, but it lacks originality and the songwriting creativity to live up to the true masters in the field. Recommended to fans of the jazzy instrumental side of King Crimson and Djam Karet. There are flashes of excellence, but not enough of them to warrant 4 stars.

This is really something you must listen too and I'm sure many of you, as I, will enjoy letting the whole thing play throughout, and again?

Here again we have a mix of native sounds with some anger exposed more obliquely now, like in Chúcaro, in a confusing way of playing the riffs. Here again is present a second percussion building the pillars of the music. Here again stands out Cristian Larrondo, playing fretless base and stick all the album long. Hey, there are also traditional basses!

Here is an almost entire instrumental album, with just a couple of lines here and there, just like a complimentary resource. Here is a really sincere album, with five musicians playing what they want to play. Here, one of the good products of these our lands of Chile, one to recommend to people outside there.

This debut CD is really beautiful, in a kind of conceptual format, with lyrics in some songs, and with a clear aim of what they wanted to do. Maybe it's discussable that of the lyrics, considering that they were suppressed from their second release, but that is only a detail. The core of the music, the north, it's clearly defined on this CD. This flute/sax and guitar leaded progressive rock, with a close relation with the most native aspects of these lands, builds a particular sound of anger, love, sorrow and companionship.

The second percussion builds a sincere background of Chilean airs, and the bass playing gives a value added to the music itself; great work from Cristián Larrondo, here playing bass guitar and fretless bass.

I love this band and I love this CD, from the beautiful mellow verses of Nómades, to the angriest madness of Milodón, all the hard guitar work and the softly flutes. Mar de Robles made an excellent debut album and, for all of our joy, not only the debut.

"Chucaro" opens with some outstanding bass as drums pound and sax plays over top. Guitar starts to add some fire in this uptempo gem.This sounds so good. Check out the guitar 2 1/2 minutes in ! Flute 4 minutes in sounds so cool as the tempo continues to shift. The sax is back before 7 minutes. "X_2004" features drums, bass and some great sax work. The guitar comes in with some blistering melodies. It becomes spacey as sax plays after 2 minutes. Nice bass lines after 3 1/2 minutes as vocals come in briefly. "Perimontu" is a little more relaxed as gentle guitar and bass are joined by flute. Drums and bass become prominant. The sound sort of fades in and out then flute returns. Lots of atmosphere. "Rancagua Nocturno" opens with atmospheric guitar as bass comes in. It picks up as flute arrives a minute in. Great sound. Percussion a minute later followed by some aggressive guitar and sax. The best part might be when the bass solo before 4 minutes is followed by some killer guitar. It becomes atmospheric after 5 minutes. Nice. Beautiful sax melodies follow. What a song ! "Aborigen" opens with a heavy soundscape as angular guitar solos over top. It lightens some as sax comes in before it gets heavy again. I love the rhythm after 2 minutes. Native chanting before 3 minutes before the guitar rips it up.

"Sobreviviente" takes a minute to kick in but man when it does it's a wall of sound. A change after 2 minutes as we get some atmosphere. A psychedelic climate arrives as flute plays. It's loud again before 4 minutes and check out the guitar ! "Chileneos" has a dark intro as sax comes blasting in with heavy bass. The tempo picks up after 3 minutes as the guitar makes some noise and vocals come in. It gets really heavy before 4 1/2 minutes. A calm follows. Heavy drums end that a minute later as the guitar fills the soundscape with metal. I like when bands have a song named after themselves. "Mar De Robles" is a good example of the bands strengths. Heavy bass and drums with scorching guitar. Flute and sax later. Excellent track. "Ubuntu" opens with atmospheric guitar as sax comes in. Amazing sound ! It gets heavy duty sounding as bass and drums provide a ton of bottom end as sax continues. You have to hear this ! Flute 4 1/2 minutes in.

This is all just perfect for my taste in music.

The first track "Intrduccion Al Universo Conocido" for example features the sound of someone walking and then opening a door, and then changing channels before flushing the toilet. This is a short intro song(no music) of one minute. "Involusion" is an uptempo track with sax, drums and guitar standing out to begin with. Percussion arrives then a calm as bass only can be heard before vocals a minute in and a full sound returns. Flute is great with more terrific bass lines. Another calm after 2 1/2 minutes with gentle guitar, flute and bass. Percussion joins in, and the song takes off again before 4 minutes. Vocals and a nice heavy sound as flute plays over top. Great section ! Blistering guitar follows. Sax is back. Nice.The song ends with samples of traffic sounds, then birds and water. "Nomades" is pastoral to open as gentle guitar and flute play. They are then joined by bass, drums and reserved vocals.The guitar 2 minutes in grinds away beautifully as bass comes in and more passionate vocals. It settles back down a notch before 4 minutes.The percussion, strummed guitar and bass melody to follow is cool. Flute 6 minutes in joins the melody. More great guitar before 7 minutes as bass and drums play on. Some crazy laughing comes and goes. It ends with the birds chirping.

"Tantic" is one of my favourite songs on here, it opens with some nice bass as the guitar comes in grinding away. Flute joins in. This sounds fantastic ! Love the guitar. Flute and bass after 3 minutes as it has settled down. More amazing guitar after 4 minutes and later around 5 1/2 minutes. More samples to end this one of water and other sounds. "Milodon" is another favourite, it opens with some heavy bass as guitar, drums and flute join in. Check out the ripping guitar solo to follow. Incredible. Vocals after 2 minutes, then flute takes the lead with gentle guitar. Percussion before some strange vocal melodies. Drums then keep a steady beat as guitar cries out much like on RUSH's "Xanadu" song. More fat bass follows 5 1/2 minutes in and then a full sound. More samples. "Aire Chileno" again brings to mind RUSH to open before tribal-like drumming and flute take over. The bass is throbbing and the guitar comes and goes. Vocals 1 1/2 minutes in. I love the guitar / bass melody 4 1/2 minutes in that goes on and on until it becomes even heavier with sax a minute later. Vocals are back after 7 1/2 minutes. Great song.

"El Flecha" is a cool sounding tune with prominant flute and bass. Sax after 2 minutes with some grinding guitar a minute later as drums pound away. "V/S..." opens with some outstanding guitar with bass and drums. Flute joins in. Bass solo comes and goes. Guitar 3 1/2 minutes in is angular again just the way I like it. Flute, gentle guitar and bass after 4 minutes. Vocals 5 minutes in. Bass solo follows as guitar again makes me smile. Dead silence after 7 minutes for a minute. Why ? Laughing ends it.

I really have a connection with so many bands from Chile, and it's no different with this remarkable band. This was a blast.