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Asi Somos - Injurias CD (album) cover

INJURIAS

Asi Somos

 

Prog Folk

3.00 | 3 ratings

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memowakeman
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Hey, i want some caribbean prog!

We, as members or collaborators or even just lurkers of PA, have the incredible advantage of spreading our knowledge everytime we click on this site, because there are a lot of things, bands and music to discover. Besides, if we know some of the members here is another advantage because all of us have some recommendations and hidden treasures ready to be discovered, this band called Así Somos was a recommendation of my fellow progfriend Rubén (chamberry) who has to be proud of this band, and another superb one which is Astrid Pröll, both of them are prog bands from Puerto Rico so you can see that fortunately the world of progressive rock is everywhere, even in America Central, where one may think it's impossible to find music linked to our tastes. Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce you to Asi Somos.

So, Así Somos is a band from Puerto Rico which is composed by several members, by the surnames i believe they are familiars or relatives, and i am fully convinced that every of the members have different musical tastes, and we can notice that in this album.

Injurias released in 2002 and (i don't really know the band's history, so forgive me if i'm wrong) debut album consists on 8 songs and a total time of almost 50 minutes, it is a trip to the Caribbean sea where you will enjoy an amazing blend of musical styles such as salsa, reggae or affrican music gathered together with a true prog folk spirit, so like it or not, you hardly will listen an album like this.

The album opens with Pangea which is a really short piece and a strong introduction to the album, instrumental and full of energy.

Padonde starts with some bass sound and then we can listen to the first of the exotic rythms, which is the reggae, also in this song is the first time we will listen to the vocals, all of this is accompanied by some sax which make a jazzy sound, then the song has some changes and the prog rock part of the song is evident, nice violin also is featured at the middle of the song, the second part is full of salsa and a true latin-american feeling, i actually am not fan of Salsa or some others rythms, so this part of the song is not particularly my favourite one, though what i like is that they dared to create this mix of sounds and rythms.

Palabras Locas start with some wind instruments and an acoustic guitars along with a soft drumming, the music is really enjoyable very soft and warm, there are vocals and maybe i would say the first minutes of the song are catchy or a bit poppy, but at the same time the folk elements used make it better and more prog folk oriented, there is a good sax solo in the middle, inviting you to enjoy the music you are listening to the moment and in the last part, the violin takes the leadership of the song, pretty cool.

Incultos along with the previous song, are the longest tracks of the album with a duration of 9 minutes each one, this song starts with some soft guitars and then suddenly it makes a bombastic crescendo ala RIO, but almost immediately the musicians manage to create the always noticeable latin american feeling, without losing the proggy element, so their creativity really deserves applause and attention, this song i like because also makes me sing (uno al frente y uno atras)

Dos Minutos comfortable guitar chords along with some violin are played before the vocals enters, then the song has some kind of sax vs violin duel, a very good instrumental moment and totally folk, the song is actually a bit slow, so you may get bored in some moment, good song but there are better moments on the album.

Arboles is probably my less favourite song here, i think despite the nice music created, it becomes pretty plain in some moments even when the reggae style comebacks to it, which is not new since the reggae rythm is plain itself, the best of the song are the lyrics probably.

Cometas del tiempo is a song with a happy feeling, it shows some traditional elements and a nice predominant acoustic guitar, the vocals are very good actually i hadn´t talked about it previously, but it´s a voice with a tasty colour, some violins and flute over the song, there is a great instrumental moment which reminds me to some Japanese RIO bands, and the best of the song is the capacity of making a dramatic change, because it suddenly becomes a Puerto Rico song, very traditional with that Latin American/salsa feeling, also the lyrics show they are proud of being Boricuas.

Injurias the title track and the last song of the album, the intro is again ala RIO and then the soft vocals and acoustic instruments make the song even softer and more beautiful in moments, this is an excellent closer!

I want to thank Rubén for this great recommendation, what i like the most about this album is that after all i think is unique, i haven´t listened anything alike, this mix of salsa, latin, reggae, prog folk music, makes this album a really worth listening, though it does have it's pros and cons, some plain moments and if you dont like any of the above mentioned rythms then you will find it quite annoying, anyway you should give a try to this original album.

Personal grade, 3.75, for PA a final 3 star.

memowakeman | 3/5 |

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