TRILI

— First review of this album —

Sandwiched between a nine second introduction and a conclusion that is twice as long, the band performs two of their lengthiest pieces- as one complete track. Knowing their work from the studio albums, this can be a trying experience, perhaps undertaken only by those who can endure (or better yet, actually enjoy) extended, rambling, semi-psychedelic jams. There's a steady and ever-reliable bass, straggling drums, a wah guitar doing a respectable job on rhythm, and a slide guitar more or less handling the lead. As with their studio albums, the two guitars are very dirty, often with one doing one thing on the left side of the mix and the other doing something quite different on the right (kind of like American politics, yes?), some of which works and quite a bit makes one begin to reach for the stop button. Ultimately, it's thirty-seven minutes of waiting for things to be over, and this time, there are no redeeming moments of brilliance like "Dirt" to salvage it. At several points throughout this, I could almost hear a middle-aged father shouting out to his garage, "Turn that racket down!" Fans of repetitive jams- come and feed. Everyone else is fairly safe to move along.

— First review of this album —

This is Trili's demo, released in 2008. It contains excepts and pieces that would appear on two separate 2009 studio albums. Fans of Adrian Belew and Robert Fripp's work together in King Crimson may find something to enjoy with this band, but I find them difficult to get into. While not remarkably so, in some ways these demo versions are better than those that appear on the two full albums.

"Gabitronix Pt.1" This version, while shorter, has a fuller sound and a tighter arrangement.

"La Muerte Tambien Llora" Strident and noisy, this is the ten-minute fetus of what would grow into a seventeen-minute monster. The bass guitar playing is incredibly sharp and excellent, while the guitars are biting and, well, not so excellent- awful really, utterly spoiling what could have been brilliant.

"Gomoso Doble Cabeza" This shows a rough sketch at the piece I consider to be the band's most Rush-like (think Vapor Trails). I almost rather the band had kept the demo, since the guitar tone is far superior than the one used on the full album.

"Dirt" The organ of the "official" version is lacking, and the vocals aren't nearly as warm as they would be, mainly because they are more heavily processed. Still, that processing offers its own unique smoothness. I rather enjoy this rough rendition- of course, I'm fond of the song anyway.

"Gabitronix Pt. 2" This earlier version is decidedly hallow sounding- it really does sound like a rehearsal. I wasn't crazy about the finished product, so I can't say I had high expectations of this sloppy pair of guitarists going at it at the same time.

This is the second part of the eponymous album, also released this year. As with the previous album, there are excellent ideas, but they are strung together like a string of mismatched beads. The compositions are a mite stronger this time around, but the tones of the guitars are ear-piercingly awful and the playing is sloppy in many places. More than one part of this album literally made me wince in pain.

"Otro Lugar" Rolling snare, bouncy guitar chords, and a bass solo begin the first track, which is a gentle jazz song featuring the sultry feminine vocals that sadly were only on one track on the previous album. At times, she even sounds like a Hispanic Steve Nicks- not a bad thing at all.

"Gomoso Doble Cabeza" Initially unsettling and noisy, the band soon settles into a series of electrifying grooves that are at times almost Rush-like. After some almost excruciating noises, the band drifts into a smoother section that's unfortunately marred by an absolutely dreadful guitar tone and an unexciting chord progression.

"La Muerte Tambien Llora" Extraterrestrial-like noises of all sort begin the second longest track of the album. After the insipid twenty-minute jam of the first album, I shuddered to think what the band would do with not one, but two extended pieces on this one. After three minutes of messing around, something coherent emerges, although coherent may not be the correct word. The two guitars are doing two different things, sometimes working with each other, sometimes working against each other. A rather delightful jazzy section, complete with a walking (nay, almost running) bass and clean lead, make up the bulk of the middle section- a welcome transformation, to be sure. During the final seven minutes, one can expect to hear a psychedelic percussion solo, "accompanied" by random guitar noises and electronic sounds.

"Dentera" The shortest track consists of moderately fast and slightly discordant riffs, sounding like an updated blend of psychedelic and surf rock. The second half is a complete mess though, with caterwauling saxophones, making this one almost impossible to sit through, despite it's pithiness.

"Waves" Long notes played on a synthesizer make for a surprising change on "Waves." After about three minutes, a classical guitar cuts in, pinching three chords at a time. It's completely different than anything on the album, sleepy and tranquil, but sadly represents the other end of the spectrum- a beautiful bore.

"Gabitronix Pt. 2" More galactic noises begin the final and largest piece. It incorporates flute and a grungy bass. The production seems the weakest on this one, interestingly enough, as it has a tinnier sound and seems to be covered by a thin layer of static here and there. What's more, the guitars sound amateurish and almost like kiddie instruments, even out of tune at times. The guitarists simultaneously jam over steady bass and drums, oftentimes over each other and sounding extremely messy in the process.

Like a lot of instrumental albums of this ilk, sensing direction and melody can be an arduous, if impossible task. It's full of good ideas, but they are all just fragments stitched together without much consideration for structure. Musically, it could be described as similar to one of Omar Rodriguez-Lopez's less experimental solo projects.

"Gabitronix Pt. 1" The opening and shortest track is a cautious blend of rock and jazz with subtle Latin approaches. It has a maddening, almost chaotic flow to it, with several jarring passages linked together by more calming ones.

"Depredador Pt. 1" Not content to just feed the guitar through a wah pedal, they feed the bass through one as well. The final portion is a drearily experimental one, almost like listening to music in the depths of the sea.

"Depredador Pt. 2" An explosive chord and series of riffs interrupts the soft, wandering music the track begins with. Fairly straightforward guitar solos take over from there, followed by a very pleasing bass solo performed over airy drums. From there, a repetitive riff rolls in, giving the drummer a chance to showcase his talent and give his snare quite a workout. The remainder of the piece is meandering and noisy, and not at all worthy of its length, I'm afraid.

"Dirt" Light, quaking organ forms the backbone of this gentle, hazy track, alongside a steady bass and drums. Unexpectedly, a female's husky voice comes to the fore, and is surprisingly good, particularly singing with herself on the chorus. She has a bit of grit to her voice in places, matching the crunchy guitar that consumes the final part of the song just before the guitarist erupts in a fiery solo.

"Lliijaa!" This consists of a fast-paced country shuffle with low, gritty guitar notes (quite similar to "Ghost Riders in the Sky"), all performed at an uncomfortable time signature. It takes a bluesy feel toward the latter portion. After some solo chords by a crispy electric guitar, the music stops completely, and the band begins again for another twenty seconds or so.

"Sakalkk" The bass pumps two notes (that grows into more) at a time while the other instruments mess around a bit. This setup makes for a slightly psychedelic and drawn-out piece. This unfortunately is the weakest track of the album (despite that it is by far the longest), because it largely consists of more than twenty minutes of jamming or dull improvisation, mostly with electric guitar or electric piano, and though the bass riff changes from time to time, the key and time signature is stagnant, thereby endowing the music with absolutely no variety whatsoever.

Really 3.5

The words “jam band” often conjure up an image, something that’s fun for the musician, but maybe not so much for the listener. Trili believe that they have figured a way out of that one; make a band that jams ambient mood music. “Now wait a second,” you say, “how the hell does THAT work?” Don’t worry, Trili is also a hard rock band. Sounds confusing doesn’t it?

Fortunately, it also sounds good. The eponymous debut opens with “Gabitronix Pt. 1,” which transforms from a host of moody guitar noises and building bass and drums into a Larks Tongues in Aspic style metal number with clever, and memorable, riffage. A very promising start, and the best number on the album.

“Depredador Pt. 1” is a more straightforward number that borders on the metallic, and provides adequate headbanging material. Right up until the end, when it fades into ambient noise, and morphs into “Depredador Pt. 2,” which is more Porcupine Tree style metal, but with jam band twists and builds that makes it deeper, and therefore, more interesting.

“Dirt” is the first track to have vocals, which is an interesting change. At heart, it’s a power ballad, and a very pleasant one at that. “Lliijaa” pulls us back into the professional jam band theatrics, tossing out bluesy jamming, art metal, psychedelic jazz, and...and do I detect surf rock? Yes, I do believe I do. Nice.

“SaKlaKK” finishes the album off in a big way (I mean, c’mon dude! Twenty minutes). It might be a bit much over all, but it’s made out of tasty enough stuff. It covers a lot of ground, starting with moody Latin themes, then transferring them to a moody hard rock backing, dissolving into ambient, and closing it off with moody keyboard soloing that reflects Ray Manzarek’s jazzy electric piano ala “Riders on the Storm.” As I said, a bit much, but if you can stand it, real fun.

Which is the best way to describe the album as a whole. It’s solid, and good listening, but I can’t shake the feeling that’s something missing...the ballads (er, ballad) could be more emotionally rewarding, the riffs could be a bit more memorable...but why concentrate on what’s not there?

What IS there is good, solid construction on just about every song. I’m serious when I say this, the construction of the record is just about perfect. These folks know their way around a studio, every instrument is in its right place. The rhythm is loose, but not sloppy, the leads are layered so that they never overpower anything. The riffs might not be particularly innovative, but they’re solid, and clearly this is real jamming, not just pointless improvisation.

This album shows has no lack of confidence whatsoever. It just needs a tiny push in the right direction, something to make it a little more involving for the listener, and it would be the perfect synthesis of hard rock jamming and ambient mood music. Surely this is not a radically new concept; one could argue that Trili is picking up where bands like Can and Amon Duul II left off. Maybe it lacks a tad of the ingenuity, but it has all of the professionalism, and anyone who wants something moody, in a background kinda way, but doesn’t want some sissy Brian Eno on their playlist, Trili Pt. 1 is an album they need to check out.

"Trili Pt. 2" sounds somewhat less accessible than the first album, though it has a very similar structure: six tracks, one of which featuring vocals, two longer than average. The overall feel, however, is looser, more experimental, less disciplined than Pt. 1. Jazz influences are also more prominent, though the twin guitars of Gaby and Joel remain at the forefront.

The album opens with an unexpectedly slow, subdued piece, featuring again the vocals of Lily Valdez. However, unlike "Dirt" on "Trili Pt. 1", the song gets definitely heavier towards the end, echoing the structure of TMV's slower compositions such as "The Widow" or "Televators". The following track, "Gomoso Doble Cabeza", is more in line with the sound evidenced on the first album ? dynamic and quite heavy, based on a repetitive, almost obsessive riff over which the lead guitar is left free to emote. A Morricone vibe surfaces in the lead guitar lines of "Dentera" (featuring former guitarist Georgie Castro on sax), another track with more than a hint of math-rock in its angular, obsessive riffing.

The two longer tracks, "La Muerte También Llora" and "Gabitronix Pt. 2", run the gamut of musical moods typical of the band's sound, adding some more 'exotic' touches. The former starts with eerie noises that may remind the listener of some parts of TMV's "Frances the Mute", then turns into a lengthy jam full of twists and turns, with understated, jazzy passages interspersed with the band's trademark, manic riffing. "Gabitronix Pt.2", on the other hand, comes across as a more rarefied, atmospheric effort, where the omnipresent guitars sound almost muted. This track can be seen as the ideal continuation of "Waves", a beautiful, spacey piece of music enhanced by some delicate acoustic guitar.

Needless to say, even if either of the two albums could easily stand on its own, they are meant to be enjoyed together, so as to get a complete picture of the band's distinctive, eclectic approach to music. They have the chops and the personality to grow and evolve into a force to be reckoned with, and I would not hesitate to recommend them warmly to fans of complex, hard-edged instrumental prog. Both albums will be an excellent addition to your collection, and give further encouragement to one of the most promising modern prog outfits.

The Caribbean island of Puerto Rico is not commonly known as a hotbed of progressive rock ? with a few notable exceptions, the best-known of which is a guy called Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, founder and mastermind of The Mars Volta, and undoubtedly one of the most exciting musicians of the new century. Even if the island continues to be mostly known for music that has nothing to do with prog (or rock for that matter), the few outfits that have come out of it in the past few years seem to share one thing: they are purveyors of an intriguingly modern brand of prog, which nevertheless is firmly rooted in the glorious past of the genre.

Five-piece Trili are indeed one of the most pleasant surprises of the year for fans of instrumental prog played with both skill and soul. Interestingly, their self-titled debut album was released as two parts, each featuring six tracks. The band's music, fluid and energetic, mostly instrumental (with an exception on each album), is full of surprises, and comes across as remarkably accomplished for such a young band. Though they draw inspiration from a number of apparently disparate sources ? the band members are into the likes of classic rock, prog, punk, jam bands, jazz, blues, and Latin music ? the final product sounds influenced, but never derivative.

As a whole, the album alternates high-energy, heavily guitar-based passages with slower, atmospheric, spacey ones. One of the most striking features of Trili's music is the sleek, dynamic interplay between the guitars (played by Joel and Gaby, the latter also a member of prog metal outfit Ongo), reminiscent of Nineties-era King Crimson. The KC inspiration is quite evident in the album's first two tracks, "Gabitronix Pt. 1" and "Depredador Pt. 1" ? the former track also features some cool Latin-flavoured rhythms at the beginning, while the latter sounds almost post-rockish at times. "Dirt" is the only real song on the album, featuring the vocals of Lily Valdez ? a slow, moody offering that could easily be called a 'torch song', definitely more traditional in structure (including a brilliant guitar solo); while "Lliijaa", very much in contrast, has an almost punkish vibe, and some more great lead guitar work.

That leaves the album's two longest tracks, "Depredador Pt. 2" and "SaKlaKK (Otro Lugar pt. 2). The former is probably the composition which most clearly shows the influence of The Mars Volta, namely their "Frances the Mute" album, alternating high-volume, high-energy parts with quieter, more atmospheric ones. The latter, instead, is the album's epic, their "Echoes" ? and Pink Floyd is definitely their main inspiration here (even the guitar sounds very Gilmour-like). However, it is a very personal interpretation of the classic PF prog-meets-psychedelia sound, with a very modern bite to the faster, more energetic sections, and a pulsating, dreamy quality to the more spacey ones. If this is the main direction towards which the band are heading, it is a very promising one indeed.

Since "Trili Pt. 2" has its own, separate entry, my review will continue there. Though it may seem a rather unusual way to release an album, in my opinion it only adds to the band's originality and appeal.