ELECTRIC ASTURIAS: FRACTALS

We can call this album as an excitement springing out, can't we? According to what Yoh's said to me, looks like ELECTRIC ASTURIAS, a Japanese Neo-Prog pride, could touch and attract the audience in RoSfest 2013 ... and we've easily understood this pleasant matter via their album "Fractals", that has more brilliant complexity, more comfortable aggression, and more definite "antipop" sense than previous works as ASTURIAS.

Yes, in this album, we cannot avoid the main instrumental dish Tei's violin, that might have got cheered up and brought out by Yoh's composition and arrangement I guess. As if the violin sounds would tear our brain out with the musical gene coreS entangled together, they launch gemmy enthusiasm, the ingredient of the first shot "Double Helix", followed by "Voice From Darkness", characterized by more powerful and darker bass, guitar, drum footsteps. Of course all instrumental parts, especially the rhythm section, play so solidly and dramatically that such a perfect opening can be born. Can be said as the most suitable for the first explosions in this album.

The middle three stuffs are pretty good too. "Castle In The Mist" has three sections- the first and the last are impressive in eccentric melodies created by Tei's heavy, rigid weapon, and as for the middle one, we can get immersed in Yoshihiro's beautiful piano play and psychedelic endeavour, just like the title says. "Moondawn" sounds like a dim light over the sound horizon solidified with hard massive rock symphony.In "Silent Tears - Cyber Transmission" mellow guitar-, dreamy violin-based rock fantasy seasoned with a bit acoustic flavour ... easily digested by the audience methinks.

On the other hand, the last meaningful "fateful" suite "Fate" has another melodic and solemn theatricalism, veiled firstly into synthesizer-based pipe organ silk and electric guitar divine beauty in the first part "Fugue", leaning toward their origin ACOUSTIC ASTURIAS. The second "Argus Last Stand" is a heavy killer along with heavy rhythms, heavy guitar machineguns, heavy keyboard beams, and heavy violin complex-fracture-organization. Reminds us something dramatic like Neo pioneers. The latest "The Lancer" is the true worth of ELECTRIC ASTURIAS featuring their original "rock" motivation and procedure ... keeping melodious-ism, dramatism, theatricalism, and enthusiasm in their inner minds.

Superb album really, let me recommend as one of the musts in Japanese Neo-Prog scene.