¿BICHOS=DICHOS?

The Chilean experimental rock scene seems endless and ABRETE GANDUL are another nice example of it.Hailing from the capital of Chile,Santiago,they were formed in 1999 with an aim to discover the different angles rock music had to offer.Featuring Mauricio Dell (aka Doctor Octava) on vocals/guitars, Rodrigo Maccioni on guitars/flutes, Antonio Arceu on drums and Rodrigo Garcia on bass (with Pablo Garcia delivering some fretless bass in a couple of tracks),they released ''¿Bichos=Dichos?'' a year later as a private press,while the same year they paricipated in numerous important gigs around the country.

This is certainly a work,which can get very experimental at times,blending rock, and avant-garde music with jazz and flute-based folk themes.The basis of their music is mid-70's/early-80's KING CRIMSON,that means a guitar/bass-driven complicated rock music with lots of breaks and changing tempos.Though,the overall result reminds little of KING CRIMSON.While ROBERT FRIPP was undoubtfully the main figure on KING CRIMSON's releases,here Doctor Octava leaves a lot of space to the other musicians to explore their instruments.One of them is Rodrigo Carcia,who's hypnotic and heavy bass lines dominate the album,while drummer Antonio Arceu has also his moments with his free imrovisational drumming.Doctor Octava's work is definitely in the vein of Mr. FRIPP delivering complicated chords all the time with only a touch of melody here and there.For those who expect a totally instrumental album,this is not the case here.However,maybe this work would be better without them.Octava's voice is really weak and what exactly the man tries to do is really a question.His vocals are quite humurous, theatrical, almost sarcastic at times,but he rather pronounces the lyrics than actually sings.This is the weakest point of this release for sure.

For those who like the cosmic,trully complex,''inhuman'' face of KING CRIMSON or the bands who followed their steps (BI KYO RYAN,TRYO,DIFICIL EQUILIBRIO),this is your thing.Of course ABRETE GANDUL are very far from creating the masters' unique sound,but they are worth a try.