NÚCLEOS

Young band from Chile, based in Villa Alemana in the region of Valparaiso.The leading trio of Platurno are guitarist Felipe Rivera, keyboardist Sebastian Aguayo and drummer Andres Aguayo, who formed the band in 2001.It wasn't until 2006, when they debuted with the album ''Nucleos'', released on Mylodon Records and distributed in Europe by Musea.It features guest appearances by Edison Atencio on bass and Priscila Valenzuela on violin.

The first effort of Platurno is a constant, mainly instrumental battle of hard-edged grooves, tricky riffs and soaring synthesizers in modern-sounding and fairly adventurous compositions.A more spacey KING CRIMSON?Yes, you can call their music this way.Nevertheless the trio has worked on their ideas with intelligence and passion.There are some nice blends of hypnotic, sonic textures full of dissonant and distorted music with more sharp and guitar-driven parts, offered through a dark and sinister atmosphere.But the biggest contribution comes from the nice use of synthesizers, thus the ability of Platurno to leave guitar-led textures for more atmospheric and spacey soundscapes adds a very attractive color in their music.The album lacks a strong sense of melody, but the sensitive piano themes, the unique sound of synths and the numerous smoother passages definitely deliver a sensational mood.

Pretty nice and semi-original debut, which should find place in any decent collection.From KING CRIMSON fans to PORCUPINE TREE maniacs and even Fusion freaks.Strongly recommended...3.5 stars.