DELIRIUM

Just a nice debut from a Mexican band.

This is an album that i had not played for ages, actually i did not remember i had it until a couple of days ago when i was looking at La Pura Realidad line-up and realized that some of their members played here with Delirium, so i wanted to have a couple of listens to this album and write a few words about it.

This was another short-lived band that released their first album in the mid 80´s, i don´t really know the band´s history so i cannot give you a better detailed review about them, i like to do that with Mexican bands but only if i have enough information, if not, i wont tell you lies, the only i can say about them is that this album was released the same year of the terrible earthquake in my country, also that this band was formed by great musicians from the Mexican prog scene, Victor Valdovinos for instance, who had played before with Iconoclasta, and Manuel Lhoman who is one of the best bass players here, some of this members later formed other bands, Lhoman and violin player Alfredo Flores are playing with La Pura Realidad nowadays.

This album which you can call it both Delirium (self-titled) or Primer Diálogo, contains only 6 songs and a total time of 30 minutes, yes, a really short album, which doesn´t mean it is a bad one, not at all, there are some short albums that i consider masterpieces (Goblin - Profondo Rosso), but this is not the case, nevertheless, i find here a very nice effort from a debutant band.

"Armaguedon" is the opener track and probably one of my less favourites, it opens with a fast introduction, with violin and keyboards as the main instruments, despite the sound here is very symphonic, you will hear some fusion passages, this is a short instrumental song, some nice drums here and there by the way. "Atrio de las Animas", on the other hand, continues but with a soft and delicate sound, obviously slower than the previous song, but suddenly it becomes a bit "powerful" and "overwhelming" song, the melody is very recognizable and catchy, some moments sound alike to Iconoclasta, i believe this band also was influenced by bands like Camel for example. "Noctruno en Caminata" has keyboards as it´s essence, this song actually reminds me to some Wakeman moments not because of the playing style, but for the sound, in fact i also remember that album by Anders helmerson which has a very alike sound, the guitar are good in this song. "Primer Diálogo" is the title track and the longest one, in which at last we can listen something new or different, this is my favorite song of the album, a bombastic beginning, then a mid-tempo change and again that keyboarss reminding me some Anders Helmerson moments, here we can appreciate the violin as well. "Hellyet" is a soft melody which later turns faster and shows a nice guitar and drumming, short and nice song, not the best for sure. "Lagrimas" is the one that finishes the album and due to it´s starting, i would say the most experimental and original song of the album which features synths making some electronic noises, and later it becomes like a reprise of Nocturno en Caminata, nice song to finish the album.

As you may have noticed, this is not an album that i love, actually i would not recommend it if you are looking for new stuff or something different, this album sounds like other 20 but anyway i find it enjoyable and goog, but of course non-essential, so 3 stars.

DELIRIUM released their excellent debut album in 1985. The music here reminds me of ICONOCLASTA (especially the guitarist, who has the same tone as the Ricardo Moreno), but these guys were determined to create something more intense. The tracks tend to be kept short and fast, and they feature multiple solos and classical-inspired duels (many times counterpoint) between the guitarist and keyboardist. A couple of the tracks also feature violin. My only complaint here is that the CD is very short, at 31-minutes of length. The music is quite good, but maybe a 2-for-1 CD with both DELIRIUM albums would have been a better deal.