UN SEGUNDO

Cabezas De Cera had come really close with their sound engineer Edgar Arrelin.In fact they considered him to be the fourth ''hidden'' member of the group, the man who took their sound to another level.An example of his stunning work can be heard on the band's second album ''Un segundo'', released independently in 2002.This was yet another work by the Mexicans with a wide instrumental armour.

Imagine if KING CRIMSON were actually a Latin-American group, influenced by Mexican Folk Music to get the picture of this high-octane trio from Mexico City.''Un segundo'' is an innovative and deeply challenging album, where short but extremely rich instrumental pieces are carefully split by the interruption of themes, mostly based on sound effects, narrations, samplers and electronics.Music is complex but always charming, led by scratching electric guitars and pounding drums, surrounded by a vast palette of traditional instruments like the violin, the clarinet, the saxophone and the archaic flutes.The compositions start from powerful, groovy parts to go through folky enviroments with a Latin-spiced atmosphere and get back into loose, almost improvised performances with a jazzy background.Of course. it's not always about dominant, complicated music in here, some displayed acoustic textures sound more down-to-earth and less emphatic but not uninteresting at all, surrounded by the sax or flutes.An amalgam of Folk, Jazz, Fusion, Rock and Electronic Music, delivered with an experimental attitude, producing atonal moments, passionate solos, punchy rhythms and atmospheric innovations.

A winner by all means.Not the main priority of lovers of more melodic offerings, but a must-have for anyone searching for dense and intricate contemporary Prog Rock.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.