MANIFESTO

Another band in the line,who fell into obscurity as the time passed by. RIVENDEL came from the town of San Sebastian and were formed around mid-80's, featuring Oscar Belio on keys and vocals,Tono Cruz on guitars and vocals,Jose Mari Aguirrezabala on bass,wind instruments and vocals and Juan Carlos Perez on drums.Their debut ''Manifesto'' was released in 1991 on Lednevir Records,propably a label,behind which were members of RIVENDEL.

Despite having received mediocre critics around the web,''Manifesto'' sound to my ears as a quite original effort,definitely in the neo prog vein,but having a rich sound coming from the mix of melodic distorted guitars and the interesting use of synths and electronic sequencers.It's not far from reality to say that there is sometimes an ambient/electronic feeling throughout the compositions,created by the atmospheric use of synths and the slow-tempo of the music,however the use of drum machines in the album will not satisfy everybody's ear.I can notice as a plus for the band the nice guitar work with influences from MARILLION and even STEVE HACKETT with a touch of ROBERT FRIPP here and there.Vocals are in English with an obvious foreign accent and often they come out with a strong theatrical leaning,not always succesful.All in all,I really can't find a horrible track in here.''Manifesto'' sounds very interesting to my ears despite it's low recording quality and the mistakes a new band makes.Recommended to fans of neo progressive rock with a touch of electronics (but I think it can please a lot more ears than only these)!