DÍAS DE LUNA

I fell in love with the music on Dias de Luna by Azabache right away, as soon as I listened to the album. This record is filled with musical bliss for fans of overblown keyboard prog like me. In 1979, when the first wave of prog was long gone, the musicians from Azabache really found their own shtick by blending the traditional 70's prog qualities, Spanish romantic flamenco inspired songwriting tendencies and... keyboards! Lots of keyboards. Synthesizers especially. You'd think that'd give the music a cold and electronical sound but it actually makes the arrangements more lively, more interesting. The keyboard parts are played with such smoothness, it's amazing.

The intricate soundscapes on this album are drenched in the instantly recognizable late 70's sonical polish. With snappy overhead heavy drums and hard growly bass tones, the music takes you right back to '79. There's a lot of machine strings, ARP synth lines and sweepy leads and they're all used in an astonishingly good taste. The guitar parts are very upfront and they all serve a purpose in the arrangement, whether it's the acoustic strumming, soaring noodly leads or the stringy fuzzy rhythm parts. The vocals are alright. Not very flashy, but the complex harmonies by all of the band members create a great vibe. Many times during the listening, the music reminded me of the British band Refugee except naturally more guitarcentric. What I found surprising in a very positive way is how Azabache avoided sounding like another ELP clone despite sometimes coming dangerously close to that kind of sound.

Highly recommended. If you're looking for superb melody-heavy prog that has that exaggerated 70's sound, combining the wunderkind keyboardry of Refugee with progged-up romantic softness (think Moonmadness era Camel), you're gonna love Dias de Luna.