NUEVO MESIAS

The Flor De Loto machinery continues to grow on and on in a never ending spiral of musical enhancement, and this brand new album entitled "Nuevo Mesías" is the unmistakably clear proof of that. For starters, the position of Agustina González has been properly reinforced to guarantee powerful expressions in the sung parts of the new set of tracks; secondly, a brand new drummer entered the ranks to provide the perfect balance between his predecessor's frontal power and the original drummer's groove; and last, but not least, keyboardist Daniel López (formerly of Kharmina Buranna) plays a permanent role as a band member and also provides a couple of compositions that sound very loyal to his personal symphonic essence. So, all in all, what we have here is an expansion on the sort of musical richness and energy that had already been established in the previous efforts "Mundos Bizarros" and "Imperio De Cristal", only taken to an augmented sense of bombast and a more ingenious equilibrium for all the instruments involved (various woodwinds, keyboards and the dual guitars). The namesake opener is a solid reminder of the sort of hook you can expect to enjoy in FDL'S catchier songs, while the intriguingly colorful 'Espejo Del Alma' and the emotional semi-power-ballad 'En Otro Lugar' bring us new examples of the band's versatility, carefully nurtured from their debut album onwards, clearly defined in their 2009 and 2011's studio efforts. It's been a few years since Herrera has become a fully matured song writer for heavy and folk-rock music, and these aforementioned tracks only confirm that he hasn't lost a particle of his touch: another song that is exemplary of his voice is 'Hipnotízame', whose main moods and ambiences stand somewhere between 'Nuevo Mesías' and 'Espejo Del Alma'. The first instrumental in the album is 'La Tabla Esmeralda', penned by bassist Alejandro Jarrín: it is a lovely mixture of Andean and Asian folk flavors recycled within a dynamic framework of jazz-oriented metal (a-la Gordian Knot). Again, we have some standards going on, and again, we have refreshing airs breathing new life into those standards. The real new thing comes first in López-penned 'Cumbemayo': it states a beautiful melodic development that reminds us candidly of Yes and Genesis' traditions, and it also gives Pacora a good opportunity to show his chops on the tenor saxophone. This kind of captivating musicality - as well as Pacora's tenor sax - will return later on, in a more pompous fashion, in the band's last instrumental, 'Creados Del Fuego', penned by Jarrín and involving intensive keyboard arrangements by López. The main theme is signaled by a fluid mixture of heavy prog and jazz-rock grooves, wrapped in stylish symphonic embellishments. The interlude is a voyage into the softer realms of art-rock, mostly Floydian, with the grand piano paving the way for an eerie (yet energetic) manifestation of reflective moods. The most introspective number in the album, though, is the other López-penned instrumental 'Caleidoscopio', where the grand piano takes center stage in the installment and development of the ongoing melodic focus: López displays his taste for Baroque and Romanticism in a perfect way. The closing track is 'Rumbo A La Eternidad', whose constant 3/4 tempo is handled in a folksy approach: the final result sounds like a heavy-oriented reconstruction of Los Jaivas, but of course, in pure FD style. Like I said in the first sentence of this review, Flor De Loto has continued to grow as a musical entity, which means that thanks to them, Peru's progressive scene remains an interesting point of reference regarding the healthy state of the affairs for current progressive rock around the globe. This album is one not to be missed! (Make sure you purchase the CD+DVD item - the DVD includes two songs played live).

Peruvian band FLOR DE LOTO has been an active part on the music scene in their native Peru for more than 15 years, although they didn't have any releases until 2005. Since then they have released an album just about every other year and at this stage have half a dozen studio outings to their name. "Nuevo Mesias" is their most recent production, and was released through Azafran Media and Musea Records in 2014.

"Nuevo Mesias" comes across as a solid production on most level, with a few subtle weaknesses in the mix and production department just about the only features that have a slight detrimental effect. Otherwise, this is a well made and well executed album of music that hovers on the edge between symphonic progressive rock and progressive metal, and while perhaps not the most challenging stuff around, it is a solid production, and one that should appeal quite nicely to those who enjoy their symphonic progressive rock just as much as their vintage-style progressive metal, in particular those amongst that crowd with an affection for powerful female vocals. Existing fans should go with the version featuring the bonus DVD, if possible, as this hour-long DVD is of a kind I suspect will appeal first and foremost to existing fans.