DISCOVERIES

Well i am chilean . So i feel proud to "Discover" we have a very good prog band. I listened to a promo copy of this album.

Here we find a strong influence(in my opinion) of mid Genesis era ,Thieves Kitchen maybe and swedish Galleon and White Willow and netherland s Flamborough Head.

A good album ,very well recorded( i can t distinguish in quality between this recording or the last Rush album for example) good compositions,good musicianship ... but i can,t find this work (and the one before this Life Signs) a very original prog. This music hasn,t the roots of the very original(because of the incorporation of some folkloric elements) Astralis or Aisles ...this may be a work of the english prog,the swedish prog ,the US prog and you ll say : "another traditional neo prog album".

Don t misunderstand me .I really like a lot this music and more than the other prog rock bands i mentioned before but there is a lack (may be) of more creativity ,more virtuosity ,more power,more decision to define a special prog work .

I really don t like Argentinians too much but i must say the best prog rock in this part of the world is in the other side of the Andes .Nexus work is the best(Chaneton too quite good) and we can t forget Sagrado Coracao from Brazil.

Remarkable is the participation of Damian Wilson and that is a very good consideration for this chilean band.

SETI - this intresting prog rock band from Chile taken the name after a NASA program - Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence, was formed around 2004 around excellent multi instrumentalist Claudio Momberg who already had another band named Subterra. SETI released so far two albums at great chilean label Mylodon. The second offer named Discoveries is to my ears a real winner, issued in 2010 got world wide very good feedbacks both from fans as from critics. Quite lenfght album, with lenghty pieces, long instrumental passages, vocals this time sung in english, excellent skills and very good sound overall. The music goes towars symphonic prog with some neo prog hints but in some parts there are some edgy passages with a harder edge, the combination of those elemets are made in great manner and with good vision in what direction the piece will take. I like a lot Jaime Scalpello vocal tone, fiting like a glove in this kind of music, also featuring here as special guest top notch vocalist Daman Wilson one one piece - Ellipse, aswell his special unique tone of voice is perfect for such music, well done job as always. As I said lenghy pieces, 4 out of 7 total has over 9 min, complicated arrangements, twists and turnes, the duels between guitar and keybords are excellent, some really fantastic passages on Underground or The inner outside. Most of the time the instrumental sections are bombastic well played with many catchy and memorable parts, as must have a prog rock album. I really like it , even SETI gone little under the prog radar, and definetly needs far more recognition, this second offer aswell the first are among the best Chile has to offer in last years. From me 4 stars, excellent album with many demandic arrangements. Nice artwork and overall package. For fans of elaborated prog something similar with Galleon, Yleclipse, Marillion here and there even with Ayreon in some parts or Erik Norlander solo albums. Recommended for sure. An unfairly unnoticed band.

"Overlooked New Latin American Prog"

I am still delighted about all those bands from the New Latin American Prog Movement that emerged in the last two decades: Angulart, Astralis, Supay, Amagrama, R-U Kaiser, William Gray, Bauer, Flor De Loto, Toccata, to name a few, so many quality bands, incredible! A strong feature is their pleasant blend of skills and emotion, for me always a Big Plus in Latin American prog. Another interesting progrock formation from that exciting and captivating continent is Chilean Seti, a project from multi-instrumentalist, composer, producer and designer Claudio Momberg (known for his collaboration with Clive Nolan). Between 2005 and 2015 Seti released only 3 studio-albums, along a live CD in 2011. I was very pleased with their very tasteful debut CD entitled Life Signs featuring moving guitar work (evoking Rothery and Latimer) and wonderful vocals. This review is about their next album entitled Discoveries, released in 2010.

The seven compositions contain lots of compelling parts and bombastic eruptions, layered with sensitive guitar play and majestic Mellotron waves (choir ' and violin section). Especially in the long and alternating opener A Draconian Tale, the strong build up in The Inner Outside and Uruqhart Castle and the final track Contact (including a long and flashy synthesizer solo).

Claudio delivers two instrumentals on this album: the electronically sounding Underground and the dreamy Falling Leaves, fine examples of his tasteful and varied sound.

My highlight is the song Ellipse, featuring the distinctive voice of known and prolific progrock singer Damian Wilson (among other things Threshold, Landmarq, Headspace, Star One, Ayreon, Mostly Autumn and Rick Wakeman), in combination with swirling Hammond organ and fiery guitar work (by Aly, from Mexican band Toccata), very exciting!

A strong second effort by Chilean Seti, especially recommended to the fans of the more symphonic rock oriented Neo- Prog bands, like early Marillion, IQ and Pallas.