ALTRUISMOS

Argentinian outfit Altruismos is a fine example of a band consisting of young musicians that makes a truly heartfelt go at making challenging music, with fusion and metal as the most dominant stylistic territories covered.

This enthusiastic initial offering by them is something of an uneven experience though, where technical skill displays at times does take the upper hand over theme development and compositional flow. The joy and passion that seems to be very much a part of this act weighs up for this quite often though. Wandering jazz inspired piano themes is something of a key feature, with the guitar mostly catering for the stylistic variation. From emphasizing the jazz orientation by way of swirling, improvisational soloing to counterpointing it with dark and occasionally harsh riff patterns. Melodic, atmospheric guitar licks and mood-oriented soloing find their place as well, alongside disharmonic distinctly challenging passages where the rhythm section comes more into play and more typical progressive metal excursions. There's even room for some Flamenco on one occasion.

It all adds up to a disc filled with enthusiasm in a varied musical landscape, with fusion and progressive metal as the main styles covered. With slight excursions into other musical realms, adhering to the overall spirit of adventure so much a feature on this disc. And while Altruismos isn't quite the finished article yet, the talent and joy they share should win them quite a few fans anyhow.

Altruismos is a young band from Argentina that has manager to make such a big first impression with their debut effort "Imagen". Their sonic nucleus is based on a mixture of contemporary metal-related jazz-rock, prog-metal, good old fashioned prog rock and classic jazz-fusion ? a solid, convincing confluence of present times' prog and old times' prog. The emergence of tricks inspired by Mahavishnu Orchestra and Return To Forever in places makes also a home for energetic exposures that clearly owe much to Liquid Tension experiment, Niacin, Planet-X and Tribal Tech. The first piece is a cosmic intro that gets cleverly segued into the first "real" track, 'Factor Crisálida'. This track begins on an evocative tone solidly sustained on a slow rhythmic development, in this way creating a hybrid of mid 70s-Pink Floyd and early 80s-Pat Metheny, with a plus touch of Crimsonian undertones. Pereda's leading role within the overall sonic scheme is clearly defined. In the last few passages, the rack gets robustly intensified in order to develop a rockier edge, without letting go of the undercurrent evocative mood. 'Altruista' is the track in which the ensemble starts to show its extroverted side in full range, and certainly this is its most recurrent facet. This track can easily be described as a marriage of RTF and LTE, with Nocelli's piano deliveries almost paying homage to Maestro Corea. There is also an electrifying organ solo that brings the Niacin reference to mind. So now that the main mood is set, its time for 'Erradia Crónica', whose joyful dynamics and fabulous swing faithfully incarnate the band's penchant for modern jazz-rock experimentation in a progressive framework. In fact, the free-jazz thing emerges in a menacing fashion, with extra psychedelic infections that grow all over the place as the piece gets closer to the 6 minute mark. Next is a cacophonic groove built on the duet of guitar and bass (a-la later KC), which is when the next track starts to get announced. 'Imagen' is a long, ambitious statement of the eclectic vision to which the Altruismos guys devote their creative forces. Jazz-rock vibrations, progressive developments and prog metal-driven arrangements are fiercely combined in this invigorating amalgam of melodies and nuances. Pereda feels obviously at home showing the influences from Petrucci, Howe, Metheny and Holdsworth, with Nocelli complementing his travels with polished proficiency, especially when it comes to edifying orchestrations and harmonic evolvements. 'Comela' brings back the jazzy fepths of 'Altruistas and the first half of 'Erradia Crónica', albeit with a more developed rocking edge. The album's closer is the longest track (and the only one with a sung part) ? 'Pánico en Deja Vú' is a 14+ minute journey across the band's own diversity. After an eerie psychedelic intro, the first main body settles in as a bombastic symphonic ballad, marked by an elegant melodic sensibility and occasionally enhanced with powerful prog metal assaults. After the 9 minute mark, the piece shifts toward an impressive tour-de-force in which the prog metal element becomes the essential ingredient. Including some neurotic tricks that scream their Crimsonian inspiration, this DT-meets-LTE escalade goes all the way to a plethoric climax. The reprised intro becomes the intriguing coda for a very good album. Altruismos has made such an eventful entry in the current world of prog. Despite the deficiencies in the sound production, "Imagen" is an album to be truly recommended to all prog collectors who want to remain aware of the new good things that South American prog consistently generates.