MAR DE ROBLES

Some years ago I had the luck of witnessing a great show by this Chilean band, as a support act of my beloved Mexican act Cabezas de Cera, I remember I left the place really happy, surprised of how good they were, and of course, I bought their albums. Mar de Robles are a band from Chile, as I mentioned, who so far have released two albums (I really hope to see a new one soon), their self-titled debut was released on 2003.

Since this first album they show high quality music, original compositions that please the strictest prog fan. The album has eight songs that make a total time of 53 minutes, and it starts with "Introducción al Universo Desconocido" , a one minute intro with radio noises and words in different languages, like listening to the news. It leads to "Involución", an explosive atomic bomb of music, with great saxophone, bass and drums. A minute later it changes, slows down but then it arises again, when the vocals appear and make a fast and nervous sound, accompanied by constant guitar and a cool flute. The final minutes are spectacular!

"Nómadas" has a less explosive sound, actually it is a soft and calm track with nice guitars and flute, the voice is not really my cup of tea, it is good but that's it, in moments I prefer the instrumental passages. After two minutes the song's direction changes, so as the rhythm, the guitar is heavier now. Well, this song is pretty rich because it changes and changes in so little time and space, and all of those changes are for good, none of them are lost so each and every of them are necessary to the music's structure. Love the bass sound here!

"Tantic" starts with some bird whistles, and then bass starts its quirky sound, seconds later it is joined by guitars and drums, and then by flute. After a minute the rhythm becomes faster and more challenging, great guitar riffs appear and a wonderful musicianship is shown. What a great decision was the introduction of percussion, I love how the band manages to work with a percussionist and a drummer.

"Milodon" starts once again with the prominent bass sound, and seconds after is joined by the other instruments. That combination of winds, strings and percussion works really well with Mar de Robles, none of the instruments is the leader, all work together as a team, all have their moments. After that introduction, the guitar makes some cool riffs while bass and percussion work as rhythmical base. Then it is the flute which makes its spot. After two minutes vocals appear, with great lyrics (in the whole album), and then as you imagine, several changes in the song.

"Aire Chileno" has a bombastic start, then those percussions and bass work together and create a fantastic sound, a nervous rhythm which is contra rested with the beautiful flute sound. What is remarkable on this song is the use of harmony vocals in some parts, most evident is at the final part, which sounds pretty good. This is another cool track that shows once again their quality.

"El Flecha" is probably my favorite song here. I love how it is progressing and that fantastic game of nuances and moods that shares. The music creates an atmosphere of anxiety or tension, the rhythm is fast, it provokes something on you, like standing up and look for something in despair until you find it, I love the nervousness incited, and how it all ends. The bass sound is once again great, as well as the percussion which always add a wonderful rhythm.

Finally: "V/S?" which seems to follow the same line as the previous instrumental track. The sound is pretty alike, elaborated and challenging, showing off the musician's skills and creating a strong composition. Nothing new to add actually, though it is an excellent closer.

Mar de Robles is a band I like a lot, I love this debut and believe me, it is just the beginning of a high quality band. My final grade is four stars, recommendable for any prog rock fan.

Enjoy it!

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