MADRE TIERRA

With their self-titled debut making some noise in the prog community, Flor de Loto would gather again for the making of a new album, which would develop further the style of their first work.Guitarist Alonso Herrera started working on his voice, while all members were given full freedom to compose their own songs, leading to a collection of tracks, from which the numbers of the so-named ''Madre tierra''would be chosen.The album was released in 2007 on Mylodon Records.

While there are plenty of similarities with the debut, ''Madre tierra'' is actually a different beast compared to its precursor.The loose jams from two years ago have been replaced by normal compositions with regular structures.Herrera displays his voice in some tracks for somesort of lyrical depth.The heavy moods have been a tad reduced, especially the first half of the album is a good example Andean Prog Folk with no particular electric explosions.Johnny Perez, who also offers some vocal parts, comes up with an exhibition of traditional instruments from the Peruvian land, wind instruments are always in evidence in different forms, like the zamponas or the pututo, and the background is an electric atmosphere of solos or decent leads.Other tracks offer a more rhythmic flute-based Rock Music with strong JETHRO TULL references, while the soft parts with the calm electric themes still obtain a nice psychedelic atmosphere.Second part follows a more heavy Folk/Fusion vein with good breaks and tempo changes and some furious guitar parts, which battle the sound of flutes in a very interesting way.Production is very clean, the mix is also professional and the balance between traditional and proggy/rockin' moods is extremely convincing.

Definitely a satisfying work of Latin-American Prog Rock with a deep sense of folky sensibilities straight out of Andean Music.Great and strongly recommended material...3.5 stars.