CRONICO

It is always a pleasure to me, when I review or talk or suggest bands from my country, I believe that with those things I can support them, and it is actually the least I can do if I want to see those Mexican bands in the spotlight, this time I will talk about Crónico. Which is a young band that released their very first record in 2007, entitled "Delirium Room", and I am sure it is a band worth checking out.

The album features 10 songs and a total time of 55 minutes approx, and it opens with "Floating", as you can see, despite being Mexican they decided to enter to the market with English titles and also some songs are sung in English , though I honestly prefer always the native language, I believe they did it great. The first song starts with a slow sound that little by little is increasing, after a minute the song turns very interesting due to the keyboards, the music is reminiscent to some 90´s Neo Prog bands, very nice instrumental opening song.

"Deja Vú" is the next track and the first one containing vocals, nice work from female singer Liz Mendizabal, the atmosphere created in this song is kind of an intrigue or something alike, kind of a nervous feeling but it is great because it takes you to some imaginary places that your mind creates. After a couple of minutes the song slows down and the vocals appear (in Spanish here), melodic voice and a beautiful atmosphere. Just before reaching minute 4, the song changes again to a faster passage with a more intrepid sound. Overall an excellent song to my ears.

The next song is called "Long Way" and this time it starts with a delicate sound created by acoustic guitar, some seconds later the other instruments such as drums, bass and electric guitars enter. The music is very dynamic and interesting, the rhythm will caught your attention and it is also worth mentioning the excellent guitar riffs.

"Grace Land" is a great song which provides the listener with a sort of happy sound, well at last it happens with me, this time the vocals are in English and the music is very well done, the keyboards work is remarkable and it is actually what leads the songs, again as I mentioned previously, the sound has a symphonic structure, but fitting better under the Neo prog label.

"Delirium" is their epic, reaching almost 9 minutes is an excellent song with alternating instrumental leadership and a variety of sounds, this time the vocals are again in Spanish, the first part is very soft and melodic, and then seconds before minute 3 the song makes a remarkable change to keyboard driven song, a bombastic feeling and fast time and tempo structure. Some minutes later the style changes a bit, just in order to return to the previous one, the musicianship is awesome, and the sound produced is excellent; this is one of their best songs.

With the next song called "Without Reasons" the English vocals return, and the music is very soft with acoustic guitars, nice drumming and some keyboard here and there. This is a fine theme, a pleasant listening with a relaxing mood. The last part is pretty nice, I like it.

"Mood Swing" is a short piece, a powerful passage and keyboard eruption, pure symphonic keyboard driven style, though later the song calms down a little bit and the guitars appear, very nice, short but excellent instrumental track.

"Don't Be Afraid" is also a short track which only passes the 3 minutes, it follows the same line, I mean what predominates here are the keyboards, the vocals return to the English lyrics, nice song, but not their best at all.

"When I Try" is their second longest song, and it starts with a calm sound, delicate acoustic guitar sound, soft vocals and again creating a relaxing mood, the atmosphere just gives you what you need to hear. The instruments complements each other, until the moment where the song explodes, (minute 2:15) it becomes faster and with different direction, but just a few seconds later, it returns to the first structure. But as you can imagine, within the next minutes you will find some other time and tempo changes, a very interesting song.

Finishing the album we have "Intrepid Nightmare", and the musical style is pretty alike to the previous song so they could be together as a one epic song, this track is totally symphonic prog, instrumental and very well crafted music, the keyboards are stunning and it is an excellent song to finish this excellent album.

I am very happy with this album, I am waiting for Crónico's next album in order to see how they have improved, for now, I highly recommend you Delirium Room, my final grade will be 4 stars.

Enjoy it!!