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Alejandro Matos - La Potestad CD (album) cover

LA POTESTAD

Alejandro Matos

 

Crossover Prog

4.12 | 11 ratings

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octopus-4
Special Collaborator
RIO/Avant/Zeuhl,Neo & Post/Math Teams
4 stars Another dark album from the Argentinian multi-instrumentist Alejandro Matos. As in his previous albums, lyrics have a huge importance. Surely not an easy one, first of all for the darkness of the music but also for the tightness of the concept and the lyrics. For this reason I will try to examine the album track by track.

Alejandro Matos has explained that the concept is about "power", intended as (his words) "a way to feel good".

The first track, Escindido (Split Off) is instrumental. A piano with a lot of pedal reverb sadly playing few notes on minor chords introduces the album while a background voice says something in English. I can't understand what. It ends suddenly giving room to "Cazadioses", whose possible translation is "God Hunters". The instrumental part is reminiscent of Pink Floyd and King Crimson, at least to my ears, but the guitar is sometimes hard. The vocals are very particular. In his way of singing Alejandro can appear a little untuned at a first spot, but this is how he integrates the lyrics with the music. I suppose that the songs couldn't be different. So this is the point: like it or hate it. I think it fits well with the music but of course we can't speak of "commercial potential". The song speaks of people hunting for a God that is not feared, trying to make a duel.

"Potestades"(Powers) speaks of becoming God by ignoring pain, otherwise we can only worry aboutkilling or being killed. I want to remark the sound of the guitar which is reminding of George Harrison's playing. Very intriguing. I couldn't imagine the Beatles playing a so dark music. The passages are never trivial, and instead of a chorus there's a very nice bandoneon solo. A link to the artist's country traditions. But effectively there's a lot in this track. A short guitar solo followed by a reprise of voice and 12 strings guitar.

Now, after hunting for God, we have an "Angel" who "doesn't come from Heaven, he opens a thousand of doors and closes only one". It's about the power of innocence.Technically intriguing, voice and acoustic 12 strings (I guess) guitar with a keyboard background and the same huge amount of reverb of the first track. The guitar harping in the instrumental part reveals how important is Alejandro's voice in setting the mood. There's also a Theremin in the final part of the track.

Anclas(Anchors) can be explained by translating the last part: "I have repaeted thousands of times: I won't accept. Everything has lost weight. Nails under the skin. The language of fakers can be learnt." This is the power of obstinacy. A very rocking track introduced by vibrato keys and followed by the chanonical guitar, drums and bass. Here also the voice sounds a bit different from the rest of the album, in line with the rock of the track. In the way 7th chords are placed, I continue hearing a reminescence of Beatles. Very strange, also because the fab4 have never done anything of this kind. In the second half the track goes acoustic. The melody line is full of unusual passages which add a little touch of weirdness before the final lead by the distorted guitar.

Lo Veilado(The Veiled) is driven by the keyboard's leslie and the bandoneon. It's a song about mistery. "Nobody understood, and it was good. The veiled follows his steps. DOn't ask questions to mistery. We burn our time, we are not Gods".

"New tears flood the desert.Nothing to loose. No water or thirst.Eating from this soil". This is "La Construccion del Desierto(The Making of the Desert). Alejandro says that this song represents the power of Ignorance. The tempo is obsessive. The desert is a strong image, I have always related it to Death. A very good song. At this point the listener has surely got used to the vocals, so appreciating it should now be easier. Anyway this is an album that requires headphones and the right attitude. The Gilmouresque guitar solo over the vibrato keys is very nice and this song reminds me to the atmosphere of "The Trial" from The Wall.

Finally the epic. Google translates "Pertenencia" with "Membership", but literally it means "Belonging to something". About 25 minutes divided in 4 sections: Ser(To Be), Hacer(To Do), Someter(To Submit) and Parecer(To look like). It's a Crimsonian kind of song with very intense lyrics each line is descriptive and can live on its own. The instrumental interludes between the parts are excellent, very well composed, played and arranged. The four parts seem to be consequential in terms of lyrics. Anyway I won't describe the 25 minutes. Let's just say that it goes through different moments, but the darkness behind is always present.

A 4-stars album but it requires the right mood, moment and logistic.

octopus-4 | 4/5 |

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