MUTATIS MUTANDIS

This Spanish band has the Marillion/IQ sound down pat. Right off the bat, "Beetles Of Concrete" screams IQ with their guitars and keyboards reminding you of Mike Holmes and Martin Oldford. The lead singer may not sound like Peter Nichols, but I'm reminded of him. The lyrics are also of the IQ variety, obtuse and gothic. The track "No Deal" has vocal harmonies that remind me, of all bands, Starcastle! A bit of a basic Neo-song with nice guitar and that Starcastle harmony towards the end. Very strange, indeed. My only complaint about the album is the keyboards. On track "Spiritless Fellow" it reminds me too much of the cheesy '80's sound. In fact, the 80's sound runs through much of the album. The savior is the guitar. It has a nice Hackett/Holmes sound, especially on the most prog sounding song, "Le Cadavre Exquis", the longest track. At 16 minutes, it runs the gamut of sounds, from Genesis to IQ to Marillion to Yes/Starcastle. Time signatures abound, there's more color and the guitar is wonderful. Very good! There is a short song, "Snowly" that's a bit comical and a song called "Panem & Circenses" (Bread & Circuses) with the cheesy 80's synth at the start but then kicks in with that nice guitar. If you are a fan of Neo-prog and like nice guitar work, this album is for you. The keyboards are okay, but the guitar dominates. A good but not essential album. 3 stars!