ARTEFACTRON

Artefactron is a new project from Mexico City made by experimented musicians that have been in the musical scene for several years, playing prog, jazz, rock, etc. In 2022 they released their self-titled debut album, which I appreciate a lot because with it, they are trying to keep alive the progressive rock flame made in Mexico, which is still alive of course, but in moments (mostly since pandemic times) seems to be a bit stuck.

The album runs around 55 minutes and its divided in 7 tracks, including an epic that closes it.

'Tiempo y espacio' is the solid opener. A calm ballad-like with piano, main and backing vocals that softly open the album. Then, a brief pause at minute 2 means the song will change and yeah, a true progressive rock sound begins here, reminding me of some classic acts such as Genesis or Spock's Beard, just to name a few. The keyboard work all along this track and in the album is great, sometimes working as the protagonist, others as a complement. This track is 8 minutes long and it is truly enjoyable to my ears, I really love how they play with instrumental and vocal passages, how they create new sounds and later return to previous ones, a very well-crafted song.

'Nave al infinito' has a soft and gentle sound introduced first by strings and later joined by drums and vocals. Some funky guitars appear later and an addictive phrase that works as chorus 'soy un extra'o aqu' appear and may make you sing. This particular moment when he chorus appears reminds me a bit of the so-called Rock en tu Idioma (which is basically rock made by Spanish speaking bands in the late 80's to the 90's, something I understand and even identify with.

'Doble prop'sito' is that kind of symphonic prog rock that is gentle and friendly to everyone's ears and even feelings. An instrumental track that work as a brief journey through a fantasy world, impossible not to feel satisfied after listening to this beauty.

A somber, more mysterious track comes with 'Har Meggido' which is actually a hell of a track. They created a gem here, telling a story with theatrical vocals while the music take us to different places, I mean, one can feel a diversity of emotions throughout the song, meaning they really knew how to put pieces together and offer a well-crafted puzzle, showing off not only their skills as musicians, but also as artists, hope you get me. This might be my favorite track at this moment, but you know sometimes our minds changes as well as our favs.

'Ayer y hoy' is another cool track, with a mid-tempo but with some let's say 'soft explosions' that appear with guitar solos and with some pretty cool keyboard moments.

This leads to 'Redenci'n', which is a short instrumental interlude made by piano and keyboards in which work as the prelude of their latest track, their long epic entitled 'Hijo pr'digo', whose almost 19 minutes will surely give you a great experience.

A thing I'd like to point out is that the band does not really have a lead vocalist, throughout the album we can listen to different lead voices, such as the bass player, the guitar player and one of the keyboard players. I think this is quite nice, because honestly, it happens a lot that in Mexican bands we use to struggle with vocals, sometimes it is difficult to find a lead singer that pleases us all, so it is nice they decided that everyone would sing here.

Well, returning to the track, as you can imagine it has different passages, a rich diversity of emotions and rhythms, always keeping that vintage progressive rock feeling, and always with a quite sober and clean playing, I like everyone here, all great musicians, all of them putting their grain of sand in order to aim an amazing result. The epic song flows so naturally, that all of a sudden the 19 minutes have vanished, and you, my dear listener, will feel really satisfied with the experience.

So yeah, congrats to this new band, I am happy with this debut album and am also happy to have seen them live recently, because it is always great to witness a studio creation performed on stage.

An excellent album. Enjoy it!