CARBONO 14

Equaling the magic and surpassing the power of their namesake debut album, Exsimio's "Carbono-14" was one of the most exciting prog releases in 2005, either regarding the South American continent or the worldwide spectrum. The band's line of work is pretty much the same, albeit with a harder edge provided by the enhanced input of the dual guitar riffs and counterpoints. That means that the rhythm section feels obliged to tighten up their amalgam in order to keep up with the ensemble's overall pace, and sure they manage to do so successfully. Once again, bassist Pérez does a terrific job at complementing his rhythm duties with services as a "third guitarist" in some of the counterpoints that take place. The combative nature of the three tracks with lyrics focuses on social violence ('El Juicio II'), abuse of political-economical power ('Haploide') and the environmental deflagration ('2012'), which add rebellion to the anger spread all through the instrumentation. The cover image is quite significant: excavation tools, craniums and archeological ruins, all of them seem to symbolize the band's intention to analyze the roots of modern's society self-destruction. 'Ser en el Ensueño' kicks off the album as a subtle overture that partially announces the display of strength to be immediately developed in 'C- 14' and 'Amenaza'. These two numbers solidly portray complex structures in which the stronger elements get fluidly combined with other constrained passages - 'Amenaza' includes some of the best guitar leads of the album. The aura of restlessness and anger feels like a cloud floating heavily in the air as the album goes on. This sensation of emotional turmoil is taken to a rather hostile level in 'Haploide' and 'El Trauko', two segued pieces that display a most powerful unit, as well as in the oppressive, gray atmospheres of 'Esquizofrenia'. Also notable are the martial, obsessive cadence of 'Eugenesia' and the clever use of decreasing nuances in the closure '2012'. These are really specific examples of the album's appeal, which can only be enjoyed as a sequenced whole of ballsy prog numbers. Definitely, with this amazing sophomore album, Exsimio reaffirm themselves as a proficient item of current Crimson-inspired prog: "Carbono 14" is exciting and inventive, in a word, excellent