RUIDO DOMESTICO

Prog releases are hard to come out of Venezuela,but here is a band that did well in the global prog scene.KRÉ were formed in 1999 in the capital of the country,Caracas,using a name coming from a poem of Antonin Artaud,meaning the lust for exploration and improvisation.The band performed at several gigs in Caracas since its formation, including theaters ,bars ,nightclubs ,universities ,even at museums.2002 is the year for KRÉ as they released their debut ''Ruido Domestico'' on Musical Mind.

STYLE: A weird blend of Jazz Rock,Fusion,Art Rock with even a touch of Post/Experimental music.''Ruido domestico'' is an all instrumental album,centered around the guitar work of Rubén D'Hers and his tight collaboration with Raúl Monsalve on bass and Hugo Mármol on drums.D'Hers performance has a lot in common with the mid-70's/early-80's Fripp's style,whle the album contains also extended improvisational parts with saxes on the front.Session performer José Gutierrez plays in the vein of 70's-era Chick Corea.Bass work is also very dynamic with Monsalve having his moments at parts of the album.The overall style turns to be contemporary Jazz-Prog with an intense experimental feeling,leaving the structures of the songs quite loose.

INFLUENCES/SOUNDS LIKE: Despite the obvious Fripp-ian influence,guitar work brings me to mind more of the modern Scandinavian bands like LIQUID SCARLET or Chileans TRYO and EXSIMIO.The loose saxes could be part of an early GONG or OUT OF FOCUS album,while the Fender Rhodes tunes are close to RETURN TO FOREVER's works.Add some obscure ambient passages here and there and you will have the result.

PLUS: Original and innovative music indeed,though the tracks differ at many points.Nice guitar work by D'hers,who seems to be the band's leader.A band with talent ,which seems to have a future potential.

MINUS: Plenty of soft parts without an evident reason of existence,at least to this extent.The electronic ambiences are of questionable creativity.The semi-structured songs are not my cup of tea,meaning a tight arrangement becomes suddenly an improvisation and the magic is totally lost.After four to five listenings the album becomes quite boring due mainly to the lengthy softer passages.

WILL APPEAL TO: Jazz Rock afficionados and people who don't mind their prog to have a slight experimental twist.

CONCLUSION/RATING: What I expect from a young prog band is to have personality...and KRÉ do have.This is unfortunately one of the rare occasions,where the music of a new and creative band didn't grab me at all.However the talent is there and I expect a more focused style on their sophomore effort...For the time being,2.5 stars is my rating.