PENTADELIA

Goliath breadth

Albatros is a Spanish band formed back in 2000. The band had little security in their lineup until around 2002 when they released their first demo. After that, the band developed an eclectic sound based upon the principles of hard rock and the vast styles of progressive rock. In 2008, the band finally released their debut full length record, Pentadelia. The band emerged onto the progressive rock scene with a rather eclectic offering; the album displays such varying influences as blues rock, hard rock, metal, and psychedelic and symphonic prog. The band audibly draws influence from the likes of Rush, Led Zeppelin, and Pink Floyd. The album is chock full of dense, killer music, with the diversity of the music truly being as free as the namesake of the band.

The album opens with two incredibly dense, killer tracks, brimming with a massive multitude of influences and feels ranging from psychedelic to heavy to jazzy to avant and much more. The vocals debuting in "Supernova" are mellow and melodic, adding a wonderful tone to the eclectic music presented in the track. Throughout the album this vocal style is heard, and is a defining factor in the band's sound. Although at times these vocals sound a bit strained, overall they present a wonderful dynamic to the diverse musical tastes presented all along the album.

The album's instrumental side is equally strong. Although the band is not full of virtuosos or music theory maniacs, they have a wonderful sense of what feels right when crafting a song. The music is not technically insane, and has a great sense of ease in it, as if the band is relaxing as they play the nice music they have crafted. Obviously this is not a bad thing, as this sense of purpose in creating delectably minimal and wonderfully progressive music has made this album a great heavy progressive rock album. The diverse aspects of the album are the most easily identifiable pro to this album, with the diversity growing as the album continues to spin, from track one to track eight.

Overall, this album may not be the most incredible piece of progressive rock to emerge from Europe in past few years, but it is truly an exceptional release from this up-and-coming Spanish act. The alarming amount of maturity and professionalism put into the release is comforting, as many debuts tend to lack in those very fields; debuts tend to suffer from production flaws, weak songwriting, and other newbie traits, while this album floats above the drabble like an albatross above the sea. I'll be on the lookout for new stuff by this band, and all of you should go and get this album ? and with good reason; it's free! 3+ stars.

A cool debut!

This is the first album by Spanish outfit Albatros, which was released in 2008 and can be downloaded for free from their website. Here, they gathered eight compositions that together make a total time of 55 minutes of excellent music. The first track is entitled "48" and starts with a cool atmospheric background, with some birds and wind over there; later guitars enter in a heavy way and the song actually takes off. It flows and continues with that cool heavy guitar complemented by a psychedelic tune. This is a very good introductory track, and a pure instrumental one, by the way,

Once the first track ends, we are already listening to "Supernova" , I mean they did not let us take a breath, instead, they implemented a repetitive but addictive tune in this second track that will make us feel truly interested in what's next. The first four minutes are exhaustive, powerful, and then it slows down a little bit and for the first time the voice appears. It continues like this until the song finishes.

"Santuario" has a nice environment and an atmosphere that actually make us feel in a sanctuary. After some seconds acoustic guitar joins as well as drums and bass, creating a soft and friendly sound. Later the vocals enter and add that particular sound that Spanish bands (and language) share, it is not flamenco, but the tone has a slice of it. The last minute is special, a totally different track is here with a kind of electronic and even post- rockish feeling. The next track is "Ensor", a short composition that shares a friendly tune with nice guitars and a soft atmosphere, though later there are heavier moments, mostly due to the guitar, and even a somber one where keyboards create a dark ambience.

"Hombre menguante" is a great track that progresses little by little until it takes us completely to its realm, I mean, with the pass of the seconds, the music is involving us, hypnotizing us until we cannot escape. The psychedelic and spacey sound is evident here, with the addition of that energy and heavy touch they band always implement. Here, the vocals are in English, something I don't love but don't dislike either, I think the native language is always the best one to sing. This is without a doubt one of the finest tracks of this album, or at least, one of my favorite.

I cannot say the same about "Waiting for a Sign", firstly because I don't like the distorted voice here at all, I would have preferred a clean one (and better with Spanish lyrics), the music is good, a bit slow at the beginning but it progresses later and create that inherent heavy sound complemented by psych, however I believe there are moments where I lose interest in this track, something that had not happened to me before. After seven minutes there is a pause and a curious change, the sound of an old tape appears with a singer of the 50s, sorry for my ignorance if I don't know who he is. Later, another change appears with an instrumental passage that makes us travel to mid-east lands.

So now we are in "Mehari" a wonderful five-minute crazy trip to the psychedelic realm. It is an instrumental track that will make you shake your head and feel in a different land, so close your eyes, and let the music do the rest. The last track is "Las tripas de Goliath", a nine- minute song where the band put together a challenging tune, with a mixture of sounds, nuances and textures, and even of languages. The music has some soft passages, some rockier moments and some heavier ones. The compositional skills of the band cannot pass unnoticed, and here is an example of their quality.

Pentadelia is an excellent album, with a couple of weak moments, but overall with a strong and solid sound. Albatros are without a doubt a band that most people should listen, so I truly invite you to do it, first with this album, and later with their 2011 record entitled "Ursus", which is better in my honest opinion. My final grade will be four stars.

Enjoy it!

Albatros from Spain got my atention when they release their first full lenght album in 2008 named Pendadelia. This is a great debute album, heavy prog is what is all about here with killer guitar chops and some intresting instrumental passages. Mostly instrumental with some vocals here and there Pentadelia really kicks with the opening track, an instrumental one named simply 48, is a fantastic well crafted tune who sets the mood for the rest of the album, really great musicianship, fantastic guitar passages. So, all pieces stands as good, no weak moments here, I like what Albatros offer on this debute and they will keep the same attitude with the second album released few years later. 3 stars in some parts 3.5