CABEZAS DE CERA

It was memowakeman's interview with this band that reminded me about checking them out.I'm so glad i did,and memowakeman has reason to be proud of this Mexican band.An interesting blend of styles here,i thought they'd be listed under Rio/Avant but Eclectic is the better fit in hindsight. "Veintiuno" opens with these different sounds coming and going including some deep bass.Drums then guitar follow with spoken words as well.It kicks in around a minute.The sax sound great 3 minutes in.It settles a minute later with bass then builds back to a heavy sound. "Gocxilla" opens with these explosive sounds that come and go before a minute then this scream.A powerful KING CRIMSON-like section then takes over.It settles before 3 minutes as sounds cry out.Clarinet comes in.It's raining after 4 minutes then it kicks back in heavily before 5 minutes.Amazing tune. "Encantador De Serpientes" opens with strummed guitar,percussion and flute.Drums join in as the tempo picks up.The tempo continues to shift though.Huge bass lines after 3 minutes.Sax before 5 minutes. "Un Pueblo Escondido" opens with some major fuzz.Who do they think they are? A canterbury band?(Haha). The song kicks in around 1 1/2 minutes.I like the guitar and bass here.Some flute as well.Violin 3 1/2 minutes in.I hear children's voices before it kicks back in around 5 minutes with some nice violin and bass. "Caravana" has a surprising Celtic flavour at times with what sounds like a tin whistle.Lots of percussion too then a blast of fuzz.Yes! Drums and trumpet as well.Incredible sound. The song settles then kicks back in one more time.Great song! "Pretexto A Un Texto Fragmentado" is experimental to start out and we get some spoken words which are contrasted throughout with a guitar section. "Gitana" features drums.sax,acoustic guitar and other intricate sounds.Fat bass 2 minutes in. "Frontera" sounds so good.The sax is fantastic and so are the bass and drums. "Al Aire" opens with spoken words and strummed guitar.Sax joins in as the words stop.They continue to take turns.Nice bass 5 minutes in. 4.5 stars for me.I find this recording to be so inventive and interesting.It's challenging yet enjoyable at the same time.

3.5 stars...

Unique-sounding experimental prog band formed in 1995 in Mexico City,initially starting as a trio.From their first moments of their existence CABEZAS DE CERA tried to insert lots of different music cultures into their rock-centered sound.The first result of their efforts was taped on ''Cabezas de cera''.their eponymous debut from 2000...and it was a great entry,as their style was totally unique,modern and fresh.

The basis of their music remains the classic rock format of guitars,drums and bass,but instead of using keyboards (or at least they are very limited),they prefer to surround their compositions with traditional Mexican flutes and jazz instrumentation,including saxes and trumpets.This work is in fact as experimental as it gets!Heavy almost metal-ish guitars are blended with superb leading saxes and trumpets,resulting a very deep and intense musicianship.Some sparse weird vocal parts are blended with bizzare electronics and acoustic passages are supported by delicate flutes of different sounds and echoes.There is also room for some great percussion work,again surounded mainly by saxes and trumpets,in a very improvisational yet highly-professional way!At the end you can only admire the technical and compositional ability of these Latin-guys.''Cabezas de cera'' isn't a work for evreybody's ear.One must be deep into Latin-American culture,traditional Mexican music and fond of folk/ethnic-tinged rock in order to fully appreciate this album...In a way or another,you must give this band a listen.They deserve it!

Just when the administrators of all prog e-zines were starting to pose 2007's best album surveys, a big surprise of No. 1 worth was yet to be released before the end of the year: "Hecho en México" is a definitive Cabezas de Cera masterpiece, a monster album that once again reassures this ensemble as a top item in the current avant-garde prog scene. Essentially, "Hecho en México" defines a further exploration of the sonorities that had been elaborated and delivered in their double effort "MetalMúsica"/"Aleaciones Aleatorias", but this time the repertoire shows a more ambitious compositional structure and a more refined way to continue the exploration. In fact, you can tell that most of the time, the ensemble creates their peculiar experimental magic with a dose of delicateness that was not so usual in the aforesaid double album: it is as if the band had decided to bring back some of the ethereal magic that made the best of "Un Segundo" (the other CDC master opus). The fact that all these tracks were basically recorded live (with some extra dubs that do not distort the original spirit) only gives us reason to admire this band and this particular recording more. 'Tercera Llamada' is an effective opener, since its candid colors (between Latin and Arabic) and dynamic rhythmic structures (like a jazzy version of 80s King Crimson) are really uplifting. The contrasts between the relaxing and explicit passages are simply immaculate. 'Tiroxina Rex' keeps the momentum going, with a notable increase of punch and complexity; yet, it never turns into obtuse sonorities, on the contrary, it preserves an agile mood all along the way. 'Peregrino' is the first predominantly serene piece in the album: the Arabic factor, not uncommon in CDC's repertoire, returns with a moderate vengeance. The mood and tempo shifts are like special moments in a spiritual continuum. 'Al Mictlán' creates a mixture of exotically driven textures and experimental muscle: the wind midi assumes a leading role when generating disturbing sounds with spacey undertones, while the charrófono and the drum kit go rearranging the jam's basic scheme over and over. Now we get to the largest piece in the album, 'Rompecabezas'. It starts with a deceitfully relaxing section of cosmic roots, before the jam begins to settle in and grow in a powerful crescendo that ultimately leads to some of the most delirious passages in the album (at least, before 'Parkour'): in moments like this, it seems that the music born of neurosis can be appealing in a very mysterious way. 'Corazón Alegre' displays a very different atmosphere due to its more lyrical framework: the combination of jazz-rock and fusion is managed in a relaxing fashion, although at some point the track delivers some weird cybernetic ornaments as a momentary contrast. 'Parkour' is the most dissonant piece in the album: it mixes the wildest side of contemporary Crimson, RIO and heavy prog in a musical thunderstorm that also incorporates some cybernetic ornaments. The closer 'Caguamán' finds the band exploring their ethereal side, as a soft breeze that aims at providing some rest to the listener's soul after it has been shaken by the incendiary 'Parkour'. More than just excellent, "Hecho en México" is an amazing 2007 masterpiece: Cabezas de Cera is, without question, a big part of the prog crème nowadays.

here we are, a wonderful piece of art, just sit and listen.

I hink is the best album of this band, full of experiences, new ideas, MADE IN MEXICO is asordid composition of the progressive Mexican of the first world, exquisite instruments created by themselves.

Excelent band and excelent album. They are able to give form to influences like King Crimson in a unique way and not just trying to make it sound like KC. When you hear lyrics from "Pretexto a un texto fragmentado" or "Al aire" you inmediately notice they are mexican, but at the same time their sound is not what most people would expect from a mexican band, they have their own style. Cabezas is also a multi-genre band, sometimes it sounds like folk, sometimes jazzy, experimental, avant, etc. but you always tell who you are listening to, their music is beyond genres. CDC even consider their sound engineer Edgar Arrellín Rosas as a fourth member, which i have never seen in other bands. I consider this CD is essential because it's just extraordinary!

CDC = CREATIVE, DELIGHTFUL, CONSISTENT

As i have said in my other CDC reviews, you can easily hear their influences, or you can even find similarities with bands like KC and maybe Univers Zero, but what you CAN´T say is that these guys are not original and creative. Their approach to music is totally different than i´ve seen with most of the bands. They wanted to go further this time, creating the sounds from the very deep inside, and what deeper than making their own instruments to achieve that goal. Yes, instruments made with their own hands (actually made by Francisco Sotelo, the drummer and percussionist).

And you can feel this in the music which is more spiritual and darker but at the same time emotional and delicate. This time they are very close to perfection.

The release is divided in 2 discs : METALMUSICA, wich contains a very wide variety of intsruments made out of metal, that´s the reason of the name, not because their music belongs to that genre. This cd has new recordings and they use their typical instruments like Stick, sax, flute, etc. but including all the original ones that i mensioned. Although the music is highly experimental, it doesn´t sound mechanical or made by novices playing with new toys. The sound is fresh and innovative. Maybe the best thing they have done so far. Highlights:"Fundicion",´"Espejismo", "Indomable" and "Destiempo"

The other cd is called ALEACIONES ALEATORIAS and has recordings from different years. Also an excellent disc with many interesting expresions and feelings. You can go from exitment to relaxation almost without notice and the other way around. Best songs : "Cazador de Ballenas", "Tornado", "Del Nois al Nais" and "Para Mercedes".

I´m not sure which cd i like the most, both are magnificent and make the full album a perfect balanced piece of contemporary art expresed in very unique music by very talented technical musicians. Not a perfect album, but close to, so i can´t give it 4.7, i´ll go for the full 5*

Viva el Prog!

...A SECOND

Yes, their second release and one more step to become the most innovative and creative Mexican act.

This album is even more experimental and slower to digest than the 1st one, more in the avant-garde/RIO style but as always being a smart mixure of many genres, and a very original output.

Some songs stay in the Levin/80´s KC style like "Cosmica" and "Escapista" with a jazzy touch, and some others explore further like "Intro" with strange music effects and indian-like singing,"El Camino" with their classic combination of sax, acustic guitar and percussions, or "Balun Canan" which even sounds a little space/psychedelic at the beginning to turn into a very melodic piece with nice clarinet.

And also they can go from middle-east with "Mil Noches" to the ancient south american lands with "Retorno"wich contains flute, guitar and drums in a pre-hispanic vein. And there are real gems like "In Statu" which proves how good Stick player Mauricio Sotelo is, "Elementos" starting very melodic and combining different wind instruments and strings.

The rest of the tracks are "fillers" or connections to the songs, and they are basicly street, cars and train noises and sounds, with people chating, and all of them have names referring to traveling which i think is the main subject of the album, shown on the artwork too (very original BTW).

This is an excellent effort showing the incledible skills of these creative musicians, that i insist, they deserve more exposure and attention of all kinds of prog lovers.

4 stars

Viva el Prog!

FELLOW PROGHEADS...FEAR NO CDC!

Unfurtunely i´ve sadly seen that most of the reviews of all CDC albums are made mostly by Mexican and Latin american members, with a couple exeptions. Maybe due to the coments of some of them about their "latino" sound on their music, and don´t get me wrong, i´m not meaning that latin music is something bad that could stop people of listening to it, but i think that perhaps they are just thinking that this band is not prog enough or their influences are in a Santana "Oye como va" vein. Or maybe is just that is very difficult to find the cd´s!... yeah, i think this one is the reason.

Just try to imagine that Tony Levin was on the Crimson 70´s line-up (the ones with Mel Collins) and Robert Fripp was already using a lot of his "Fripptronics", but more jazzy and a bit folky... Now turn it into a 2000´s band, very innovative and fearless of music exploration... That would be for sure something very close to Cabezas De Cera (no clone by any mean).

Their self titled bebut cd is a unique blend of sounds that will keep you entertained from start to end, basicly intrumental with a few tracks with vocals and althought they bring fresh air to the disc, voice is the less important part, so don´t worry if you don´t speak spanish.

All the songs are very good, with lots of wind instuments, like sax, flute, clarinet and trumpet, plenty of percussions and excellent use of strings including stick.

Highlights are: "Veintiunos" with lots of stick and clarinet, "Gocxilla" in the heavier KC style, "Encantador de Serpientes" beautiful flute and acustic guitar, "Un Pueblo Escondido" one of my favourites and actually you can hear the mp3 sample here in PA, "Gitana" almost a sax solo acompained with acustic guitar and great percussion.

I highly recommend both, cd and band, i´m sure you won´t be sorry, all their albums are good, but this disc is an excellent way to get acquainted with this contemporary art rock group, a bit hard to understand at first, but once you get into it ´i´m sure you´ll be hooked forever.

4.5 stars

Viva el Prog!

— First review of this album —

Everything has a beginning!

Long time has passed since my last Cabezas de Cera review, actually i think i haven´t reviewed any mexican album this new 2007, anyway, if you don´t know , this band is probably my favorite mexican band, sadly they don´t have the support they deserve, they aren´t well known even in their own country, but they have some few loyal followers like me who support them and one way to support them is reviewing their albums in sites like this.

Cabezas de Cera has had some changes in their line up and music, this album that im reviewing was their first effort, which actually was released only as a cassette and it´s very hard to find nowadays. This time (1997) their music was different, 3 members (Sotelo brothers and Cristobal Pliego) began to create music inspired in rock and instrumental music, in 1995 they had created a song called "Las Glorias de Baco" as their first main effort, but it wasn´t included in this cassette, the instruments were the simple ones, bass, guitars and drums, in that time they hadn´t developed their unique, original and creative style that we know.

A difference to THE Cabezas de Cera (i mean 2000 until now), wind instruments wasn´t used in this album, and Ramses Luna was not a member of the band yet.

That was a brief history of the band, but i wont write a bio, i just wanted t let you know a bit more of this excellent band. Now let´s talk about this album, as you can noticed and as i said above this was released as a cassette, so itis divided in 2 sides, side 1 has 5 songs and side 2 only 4 songs, 9 in total and over 30 minutes of music.

What we can find here is instrumental music(as usual) but in a Crimson inspired style in their Discipline era, but here they hadn´t used even stick and other string instruments that later were used in their albums, anyway i think the Crimson a like sound is pretty obvious.

The songs are short and sometimes quite simple, but nonetheless enjoyable, there are 3 songs out of this cassette which were also placed in their only compilation album "Fractal Sonico", so it would be a nice way to listen to this songs because getting the cassette is difficult, "Novilunio", "Diurex" and "Mero Tramite" are that songs, probaly the band´s favorites i dont know, but actually them all have the same style.

This was a nice/average beginning, nothing outstanding or innovative, but every band has suffered changes, fortunately, they changed for better! Since it is my favorite Mexican band and i want to support them, i will give to this cassette 3 stars, if you can´t find any son of here or think this music is not good, please try their selftitled album, and you will ve impressed!

This is the exelent material from Latino america, I from CR and the music the CDC is one experimentacion beatiful and heavy, is a new experence, is part of future the Prog in the word. Is the masterpiece of progressive music the sigle XIX. The AGE the prog (RENACE DE LOS FRUTOS LATINOS). With sound's remember a KC and New Projeck's.

CBD express the filing latino and the anciend's sound, the mistic hapiness and the ambient from America.