VAKO

— First review of this album —

In his debut, this musician from Madrid, Spain, a seasoned instrumentalist since the Glow years, a group devoted to doom rock with influences from Black Sabbath, reveals himself as a first line synthesist. He also dominates the art of guitar, both electric and acoustic, as well as analogue keyboards, in order to publish one of the greatest progressive rock recordings ever. We can certainly assure that we are facing one of the most powerful and intense recordings in the international krautrock field. He does so from an environmental perspective that generates huge walls of sound in a clear reference to Pink Floyd Wish You Were Here era. But he has a particular vision that renders a powerful tribute to the seventies Berlin school in his recording where we can hear echoes of Klaus Schulze or Tangerine Dream at their most melodic and profound musical version. Juan Carlos Palazón, alter ego for Vako, reveals himself as an authentic soundscape generator that drives the sensitive power of his compositions to spasmodic terms of sheer beauty. His keyboards create sublime melodies that emerge from the depths of his cosmic soul. But the thing is not there, the music of Vako plays with experimental sounds in order to recreate emotional and exciting pulses that conceptualize a tremendous result, full of thoughtful arrangements and emotive movements that emerge smoothly while listening this masterpiece of space and progressive rock made in Spain. Consciously or unconsciously, he adapts his work to the intelligent music made in this new century and we can find remnants and tributes to a first psychedelic and symphonic Porcupine Tree but we can also find references to acts such as King Crimson or Ash Ra Tempel. The goal of Vako's music is an emotional confluence of musical genres with an honest, sincere and full of flavour result. A flavour that transport us, consciously this time, to the sonic imagery developed in the seventies, not only for the exclusive use of an analog arsenal but for the intelligent, universal and deeply emotive musical conception. Emotion, warmth, depth, melody and space sound sense, perfect performing, a real taste for musical structures from a descriptive point of view, rooms generator, sensations creator? Can anyone ask for more? Vako is this and more: Juan Carlos is a musician crouched behind a dreamy sense of music that springs from the heart to raise it to the highest level of cosmic progressiveness of all time. Set the controls for the heart of Vako.