DIFICIL EQUILIBRIO

For those few distrustful not believing still that Dificil Equilibrio was a heavily King Crimson-influenced band, the Spanish trio would actually give an answer itself in 1998, when they released the EP ''The great red lament in aspic'', containing covers of the pioneer British Prog band.By the end of the decade they were discovered by the French label Musea and in 2000 their next work (seemingly being in fact a compilation) was released.

Similarities with KING CRIMSON still go on with this album, the Spanish trio recollects some of sounds met in the legends of Prog and their 75'-81' era and comes up with another ice-cold release of technical exhibition.At this point they appear to be the European mainland's answer to what King Crimson left as a legacy some 15-20 years ago along with PHILHARMONIE.I would call this a genre of its own, someking of Industrial Prog with atonal moves, heavy distortions, powerful grooves in a doomy style and slight jazzy elements.As with the previous album there are still some RUSH Power Rock fancy rhythmic patterns along the way, but the majority of the album recalls KING CRIMSON from the ''Discipline'' period.Technically a flawless release, the music is mostly centered around the complex guitar work of Alberto Diaz and the tight rhythm section, flavored by some sound effects, and introducing a complicated, instrumental Prog Rock with some space for loose jams, heavy dissonances and endless rhythmic shifts.Like the debut of the band this one lacks instrumental diversity, but the dynamics and energy are of first class.Some tracks are absolutely fantastic with numerous tempo changes and breaks in a limited running time and you've got to give credit to the group, even if you are not a fan of KING CRIMSON's more experimental period.

Guitar-dominated instrumental music with jazzy and experimental moods.Sounds a bit robotic at moments, but if you love second era-KING CRIMSON, this was absolutely created for your ears.Recommended.

This is the fifth album from this Spanish instrumental trio, and appears to be a catching up of pieces that have been recorded over the years as the notes for each song show that they are from a long period of time. According to the press release the band play "a powerful instrumental progressive rock influences by King Crimson, Van Der Graaf Generator, Peter Hammill and even Magma". But, what it doesn't say is that these are improvised pieces that have as much in common with free form jazz as it does with the above.

This is music that is striving to break down limits of what is aurally acceptable and while there is no doubt that the guys can play there is the question at times of whether they are playing in the same key, let alone the same tune. I think that the only way to fully appreciate this music is by watching them play, or to see another art form in conjunction with it, but on its own at home in a stereo it doesn't work at all. www.musearecords.com

Well if your into KING CRIMSON inspired bands then Spain's DIFICIL EQUILIBRIO is a band you need to check out. This album along with the follow-up "Simetricanarquia" are well worth taking a chance on. This band is a trio who play all instrumental music that is often dark and angular and always well played.

"Compulsion" is a short intro track to warm us up while "Mudan Las Palabras" is more laid back with a vocal melody to open. It stays restrained throughout. I like the bass and also the guitar expressions. "Hostilidad Simetrica" is a steady mid-paced tune. It sounds like keyboards 2 1/2 minutes in. "Trayecto IV" opens with bass and drums as the guitar comes in grinding away in this laid back song. "Trayecto" is different as you can hear people carrying on in the background throughout this song as the music plays over top. Cool tune. "Generacion Extraviada (Parte I)" is another relaxed track but it's oh so good. It blends into "Generacion Extraviada (Parte II)" where the same music continues.

"La Logica Del Vampiro" features this intricate "Discipline"-like guitar melodies with bass and drums. "Vigilia" has these dark and experimental sounds that come and go. This continues on "Retrofremovium #01". "Self Portrait" kicks in right away.This is the most powerful song on here and it reminds me very much of GARDEN WALL, especially the intro.The music stops after 2 minutes and we get silence until before 4 minutes where we get some brief music to end it.

KING CRIMSON and GENESIS have to be the most imitated bands on this planet. Spanish band DIFICIL EQUILIBRIO are influenced greatly by KING CRIMSON although they do mix things up a bit and they definitely keep my full attention throughout this disc. This album is very good and I have to agree with Cesar Inca that this album should earn KING CRIMSON fans' respect and admiration.They certainly have mine.There is some guest sax, trumpet and violincello here as well.

"Vidas Son Horas" is all about the angular guitar as the drums pound. It settles 1 1/2 minutes in. Great sound after 4 minutes then the guitar comes back to the fore 5 minutes in. "El Angel Exterminador" has this intricate soundscape that is joined by violin before a minute. It's building then it settles back as contrasts continue. A change 3 minutes in as the trumpet plays over top.This is so good. It then kicks back in after 4 1/2 minutes and the guitar is wondrous after 5 minutes. "Penumbra" opens with violin then an atmospheric calm comes in with experimental sounds. "Dynamite" is uptempo with these vocals shouting out the words quickly with sax and drums.The guitar replaces the vocals and it proceeds to rip it up.Vocals and sax are back 2 minutes in.

"Al Destino Devenir" has this heavy guitar / drum intro. Angular guitar before 1 1/2 minutes and the shrapnel is flying. Nice. "Ruptura III" has a lighter soundscape but it's beautiful. Sax joins in after 1 1/2 minutes. "Jaqueline" is a short intricate piece. "Zakarit Mena Al Maghreb" is another short tune with some amazing sounding percussion and drum work. "Trayecto" has some nice bass and drum work while female vocal melodies and guitar help out. Cool track. "Bypass" opens with synths and atmosphere as the drums join in.This is great ! Some powerful drum work especially late. "Simetricanarquia" is catchy with angular guitar. A real toe tapper.There's silence late then these spoken Spanish words come in with guitar to end it.

I am such a fanboy of the Heavy-Prog genre and this album is another example of why. Very satisfying.

The music played by "Difícil Equilibrio" is probably to be considered on the edge of the eclectic and heavy prog genre. Their style can be compared to some sort of heavy and instrumental Crimson sort of band. But without too much of personality nor fragrance.

Intricate pieces for sure are sitting on this debut album. But each is sounding dramatically like its predecessor. So, a certain boredom feeling prevails after that "Malva Bruma" has being played (the third track of this recording).

There is nothing wrong with their music, if you would except that repetitiveness is the key factor available. The absence of vocals is also not alien to some sort of less appealing work ("Messidor" or "Llanto"). At this time of the album, I have to say that the barrier between good and average has been crossed. Not very inspired after all. Again, the repetitiveness and lack of melody of such a track as "Despertar A La Utopia" is blatant. None of the tracks featured can be considered as brilliant: this album is actually a long sequence of the same. Fine musicians, but weak song writers. Technically skilled, no doubt. But is it the purpose to release an album for self satisfaction only?

The long (eight minutes) and unemotional "Esperar Al Olvido" is quite typical from this band: a good idea to start with, but over extended and repeated. Too many times. Hypnotic for sure, dark, even heavy. The shadow of master Fripp is everywhere.

The band also investigates the spacey items with "Un Final" which is close to experimental music. Can also be described as an early Floydean psychedelic adventure. Quite incoherent to be honest.

As if the link with KC was not obvious enough, the band is playing a cover of "Fracture". They have shortened the experience to a mere six minutes. I guess that "Difícil Equilibrio" wanted to pay a tribute to this important prog band.

If you are into the darkest side of Crimson, I guess that this album is tailor-made for you. But I'm not too much in this. Still, this album is pretty decent. Five out of ten, upgraded to three stars.

This is a progressive rock band coming from Barcelona,Spain but it is rather undefined if this is their debut album or a sphomore effort.In this site ''Clan'' is considered their first ever release back in 1988,while in other sites I found that ''Clan''s release year was 1998.Very few things are also known about the biography and history of the band.The only hypothesis I can make is that the work in ''Clan'' is earlier than in this one,but it was maybe released later.

Apart from these darkened spots in band's history,there is also some music here.This album contains 11 tracks with a total time of about 55 minutes.I haven't heard such a KING CRIMSON-clone for a long time.And this is a clone and not a clown.The main influences come of the ''Discipline''-era of the fathers of prog rock.The musicianship is excellent,the arrangements are very well and tight composed,the overall mood resembles also to Crimsonian atmosphere,dark,full of FRIPP-ian guitars,almost mechanical...Mechanical...This is the real problem of this kind of bands.They lack in emotions and sometimes diversity.This is a typical instrumental album mainly focused on prog musicianship and not on feelings...I also admit that 55 minutes of ''mechanical'' music are a bit too much for my tastes and the tracks sound rather similar to each other tendind to a feeling of monotony at the end.On the other hand I just can ignore the excellent musicianship of the album and the difficulty of producing great tracks (and most of them are great here) having chosen that style of music...

So,rating this album is kind of easy.This album is not essential by any means,as long as it lacks in musical variety and emotions.But it is a very good one worth adding in your collection,especially if you are a KING CRIMSON freak.So, 3 stars is an appropriate rating...

"Simétricanarquía" finds the Spanish Crimsonesque ensemble Difícil Equlibirio delivering a showcase for musical maturity within the progressive frame that they chose to set their musical vision into. Still very 80s Crimson-inspired in nature, the album's repertoire manages to introduce some newer textures within their power trio sound in order to create some refreshing richness for the basic formula. These other textures preferentially come from math-rock, 90s jazz-rock and fusion; to a lesser degree, you can also notice some post-rock ornaments in a few occasional passages. The album kicks off on a very exciting note with the catchy counterpoints developed in 'Vidas Son Horas', with the harder and the softer passages craftily alternated in a solid continuum. The use of repetition is vivid enough to stay away from the dull. 'El Ángel Exterminador' keeps things quite catchy with its mixture of KC's "Three of a Perfect Pair" and your regular Attention Deficit. The presence of trompet and cello by guests helps to add texture and colour, while the main motif remains simplistic (yet clearly inventive). 'Penumbra' brings shadows of experimental fog under the guise of musique concrete, only to be segued into a joyful rendition of Gong's classic 'Dynamite'. The layful joie de vivre displayed in this cover allows the band to exorcise their more frontal punk-related ghosts, so to speak. An interesting diversion from the very cerebral counterpointing plays developed in the first two cuts. 'Al Destino Devenir' finds the ensemble exploring their heavier facet. This side of theirs is one of the main reasons why I stated that this album represented a sort of renewal of the band's ideology: this is much less Crimsonesque (despite the evidently Frippian vibe in some guitar riffs) and more leaning towards the spirit of Don Caballero and the complex side of Tim Alexander- era Primus. This is a definitive highlight of the album, if not its undisputed apex. 'Ruptura III' lasts less than 3 minutes, and that's a real pity since it is a pretty number built upon a melodic jazz structure: a portrait of mental serenity that finds in the sax solo an adequate enhancement. This number should have been longer, indeed. 'Jaqueline', a cover of a reilly- penned cut, finds the band headlong for a further exploration of their not so evident candid side, even bordering on what we might as well identify as moderately complex pop- rock. Track 8 is an Arabian fusion interlude between the preceding one and 'Trayecto V', a solid showcase for what DE can do when they filter their Crimsonesque vibe through a heavily exotic vibe. 'Bypass' is a slow rocker whose energy is cleverly stated through the use of syncopated pulsation and guitar subtleties: as Frippian as post-rock can get. Finally, the last track (the namesake one) delivers a techno recreation of 80s KC, catchy and high- spirited. After a moment of silence comes the coda, which is a soundscape accompanied by a voiceover. This narrative serves as an effective parting word for a very good album, acutally more than good or very good, excellent. "Simétricanarquía" should earn Difícil Equlibrio a spot of respect and appreciation among fans of Crimsonian prog, particularly.

The first album from this incredible band was a groundbreaking record in the quite poor progressive movement in Spain in the 90´s. While many bands enjoyed themselves in the melodic vein, DIFICIL EQUILIBRIO reinvented the crimsonian language (in fact, Alberto Díaz was a member in Fripp´s Guitar Craft) to create a highly dynamic, but also technical music. Their music in this record can be divided in two different styles: noisy improvisations (not in a R.I.O. vein, but more in the aggressive jazz rock) and structured compositions reminding King Crimson (in the middle 70´s for the style, in the 80´s for their sound). There are also two covers. one from DURRUTI COLUMN (a band they really adore) and another from KING CRIMSON (the abridged version of Fracture).

This first record shows a band very innovative and creative, with lots of ideas that would appear in their latest albums. Songs of real interest in this record are, amog others, Naufrago, Malva Bruma and A.S. Prisma in their improvisative side, and their compositive side is well represented by Despertar a la Utopía, where they give their best in creating a song beautiful in its strangeness.

Although it is clearly not a masterpiece, the effort presented by the band is quite above the mean, and this record deserves great attention, specially for those interested in recent developements in the crimsonian school and the soft side of avantgarde.

3.5 stars. These guys are a 3 piece instrumental band from Spain.This particular record has many guest musicians who helped this trio in the playing of the music, that was all recorded live in studio. If you can get through the first two songs your away to the races. Not that the songs are bad, they're just very experimental, lots of weird noises, no melody at all. My question was why ? Haha.

Anyway the next song "Trajecto III" is a good melodic tune, with the focus on the drums, although the guitar crashes into the soundscape. "Malva Bruma " features good guitar throughout, no breakouts though. "Simetricacustica" features great interplay between the two guitarists. "Trajecto V" is psychedelic sounding much like the SPACIOUS MIND. A favourite of mine is "Ruptura part I", it's the guitarist doing one long solo. Great !

"Ruptura part II" is a slower paced guitar melody, good tune. "Requiem" features sax for the first time on the record, along with guitar and drums. The middle of the song is a very un-melodic jam. More sax in the next song, while the final tune "Desesperado I Sin Salides Falsas" is maybe the best song on the record, sounding very much like "Red" era KING CRIMSON.

If not for the first two songs i'd give this a four star rating. A good record anyway.

Difícil Equilibrio is the definitive Crimsonian bastion in the Spanish current prog scene. This trio's style is overtly influenced by 80's KC, which makes them stand out more like a tribute band who write and perform their own material than a particularly original act - therefore, the virtues of their music must be found in their genuine energy and their skill, which are, indeed, great and impressive. One main factor for this is the inclusion of contemporary jazz-rock elements, which help the band follow their mentors' example without cloning them. Generally speaking, the band's overall sound is undeniably classy, with a polished touch of disturbance delivered in a most elegant manner: not working as a power trio, DE functions more as a cohesive ensemble in which every individual member works for the benefit of the other two. The brief opener 'Compulsión' is based on a catchy series of chord progressions sustained on an up-tempo 5/8 pattern. It is segued into the eerier 'Mudan las Palabras', which finds DE slightly exploring the fusionesque side of things in the Crimsonian context; the clever use of empty space by the bass player and the sounscaped guitar solo included in the interlude are worth a special mention. The following tracks pretty much follow the same pattern: there are times when they seem to consciously flirt with the dangers of ripping-off (e.g. 'Hostilidad Simétrica' and 'La Lógica del Vampiro'), but fortunately they never fully get to that point. 'Trayecto 4 - Trayecto' is a two section jazzy number that finds the band jamming on expansions of simplistic basic motifs: their interplay is precise, but despite the potential impression of being cold and calculatingly technical, actually you can feel a true labour of introspection translated into musical terms, starting in the perspective of languid contemplation and then turning into a moderately exulting attitude. The harshest stuff is condensed in the last three numbers. 'Vigilia' and 'Retrofremovium 01' are two segued aleatory excursions, quite reminiscent of the most deconstructive side of Henry Cow circa "In Praise of Learning". The closure 'Self- Portrait' displays a powerful hard rocking motif before getting to a two-minute silent lapse, after which a very brief processed guitar soundscape closes down the album properly. In a word - excellent!