BLUE STORM

It is always a pleasure to me to find high quality music made by Mexican musicians, and when I discovered Rostro del Sol, I ended up completely astonished by their work, that I wanted to recommend it to almost any person crossing my way.

Now after having released an acclaimed debut album, they are back this 2023 with 'Blue Storm', a four-song album that has a total time of 34 minutes full of psychedelia, prog rock and blues with a vintage spirit.

I am not sure if they did it on purpose, but there are two long songs and two short ones, and the order in the album is from the longest to the shortest. So it kicks-off with 'Blue Storm' which is a majestic track, a feast of sounds and rhythms with a festival or carnival mood, its spirit is joyful so it is normal if you feel the will to move your body and why not, dance. There are several changes in rhythm and mood, moments of vertigo where they get faster and we can appreciate their different skills, I mean, they give us guitar solos, keyboard solos, they provide crazy drums, wonderful bass lines and an amazing saxophone use. But there are also slower moments where what we listen is completely different, I mean, in one single track we can hear hints of King Crimson, Weather Report or Atomic Rooster, to name a few. Great!

'Kinich Ahau' is a beautiful track, and yeah, that is a suitable adjective and even a surprising one because after listening to the powerful and vertiginous opener, they now delight us with one soft and delicious mid-tempo track, a beautiful mixture of prog rock with jazz, in which we can hear clear hints of Camel, which I am sure is an influence. This is a ten- minute song, so of course here we will have changes in time and mood, and one change I love is where flute and vocals appear after the fourth minute, it is an injection of peace, so you can close your eyes and let the music do the rest. Now picture yourself having a mind trip while listening to a beautiful sax while great and gentle bass lines sound, alongside a mellotron-like keyboard and soft drumming. Ah, but wait a bit, because at minute seven it changes again and bring that energy released in the first track, so yeah, it is a hell of a composition.

The short tracks now. First 'El Ritual' and I assume it is a rendition to that legendary Mexican band with the same name, the 70's feeling is totally present here, they manage to sound vintage but at the same time, they bring a fresh sound. The voice is deep and powerful, but I love the instrumental moments because they sound free and explosive, I also love the organ work. And last but not least 'Dark Meta' is another feast of prog and vintage rock, the winds are so powerful and prominent here, some Crimsonian textures are shared in this track, and what I love the most is that all of the musicians are equally good, so I dare you listen to these tracks on repeat and pay attention to a different instrument each time, your experience will be different but in the end, worth it.

Once again I am truly happy with a Rostro del Sol release, they are a hell of a band and I really, really hope they get much more attention not only localy, but internationally.

Enjoy it!