NÚCLEOS

3.5 stars. I seem to have a thing for music from Chile. So many great bands, and PLATURNO are a promising young band that have a bright future. The two styles of music that stand out the most on "Nucleos" are heavy and spacey. A combination that I love.

"Nucleos" is very spacey to begin with until the guitar comes grinding in around 1 1/2 minutes. The guitar really lets loose a minute later and it comes and goes throughout. "La Maga" opens with bass and drums as the tempo starts to pick up before a minute as the guitar joins the fray. A calm with synths 2 minutes in. Great atmosphere. Vocals slowly start to sing 2 1/2 minutes in. Heaviness is back 4 minutes in. Excellent track. "Suenos De Panal" opens with haunting synths. Drums then guitar a minute in. A very relaxing tune. "Cosmico V2" opens with some good, raw guitar. A Fripp-like melody quickly takes over. This is intricate and oh so impressive. It gets spacey before 2 minutes. Love the atmosphere as the guitar cries out. Emotional section after 4 minutes. Then back to the Fripp-like guitar before 5 minutes.

"Anhelo" opens with piano that reminds me of Kevin Moore when the tempo picks up 40 secionds in. Guitar comes in grinding away followed by drums. Great track ! "..." is a short piece with what sounds like xylophone. "Mundo Del Amanecer" opens with heavy drums and guitar as synths join in. A nice heavy soundscape is the result. The guitar does break away with some solos as it plays out. "Quintay" has an interesting soundscape with lots of atmosphere and acoustic guitar. A calm after 3 minutes with more acoustic guitar. "Perdido" opens with piano as some guest violin joins in. Vocals replace the violin as they continue to trade off. "Pirata" is a short instrumental as guitars circle the wagons and drums join in. "Resquebraja" is a fantastic closer as we get keys, riffs and some killer guitar.

I really like this album a lot, a promising debut.