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Alejandro Matos - Freak CD (album) cover

FREAK

Alejandro Matos

 

Crossover Prog

3.65 | 20 ratings

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Bonnek
Special Collaborator
Honorary Collaborator
3 stars Freak is the 4th solo album from Alejandro Matos, a one-man project from Arentina that shows an impressive range of skills but that also suffers from some typical one-man project syndromes.

Let's start with the strong points. Matos is a guitar player with good riffing skills, nice picking on atmospheric chords and a talent for splashing solos and fluid leads. The guitar is the main attraction on the album and enjoyable throughout. The synths are rather prominent and heavily influenced by Richard Wright? They provide a very lush texture and lend a great spacey feel to the music.

The disadvantage of the one-man approach is that some essential ingredients to make for consistent listening are neglected. The weaknesses appear in the drumming and the vocals. Matos' voice is pleasant, and his Spanish vocals give the album a recognizable identity, but the melodies strike me as rather unremarkable, or let me say they are not memorable enough. They also miss some intensity. The main problem sits with the drum programming though. I don't have anything against drum programming but it simply doesn't suit progressive rock, which needs a more creative and dynamic realization.

The songwriting is very strong, varied and original, but is not consistent enough to convince for the total running length of 70 minutes. A more concise 50 minute highlight selection of the material at hand would have made for a much better album. In the 70 minute form as it is currently presented I tend to dismiss al tracks following the 19 minute centrepiece El Infierno De Los Buenos. It's not that the remaining material is inferior, but it's simply uncalled for. I understand an artist's enthusiasm to share all his creativity with us but I prefer a bit more self-scrutiny in order to offer us only the best 45 minutes instead of all 70.

There are few artists that can pull off convincing solo albums. Even geniuses like Hammill and Gabriel were surrounded by a big pack of guests and collaborators on their masterpieces. I think the seeds to achieve excellence and wider recognition are here, but the songwriting and the ideas need to be fleshed out by a real band. Especially a dedicated drummer will be crucial to deliver on the promise of this album.

Bonnek | 3/5 |

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