JARDÍN DE LA CROIX

The stylistic range is narrow, which could make for an album that wears out its welcome, but Jardin de la Croix overcomes that hurdle through silky guitar textures juxtaposed with the most accented rock compositions around. Rather than creating chords in the traditional sense, the guitarists imply the chords through brisk series of notes. While this guitar style is hypnotic, the drumming demands awareness. Visiting post rock, grunge, metal, and skillful thrash, Ocean Cosmonauts is highly recommended for fans of aggressive but mesmerizing rock.

'Blacksnout Seasnail' An impressive opener, this features mostly clean guitar flickering from note to note in a brisk fashion. The second half of the piece raises a more clamorous side of the band's style, with several crescendos of clanging chords.

'Vostok' A more vociferous beast than 'Blacksnout Seasnail,' this one features the drummer all over his kit, varying the rhythm alongside the bassist. While the blinking guitar passages carry on, there is a strident finale with a heavy dose of bass pedal that fades out in beautiful rapid harmonics.

'Island of Atlas' More layers of chiming guitar and tight, mobile drumming that punctuates the piece in a noticeable and creative way feature here. The ending involves a mesmerizing groove that escalates to a cacophonic conclusion.

'Maelstrom' Delicate sheets of guitar waltz in, but its beauty is devoured by the snarling interruptions that bite through. The expressive snare work adds a dramatic effect to the ever-present ringing guitar.

'Challenger' A more traditional alternative rock instrumental, this one cranks up the grunge, using some predictable chord progressions along the way.

'Math of Vortex' Melodically odder than any of the previous pieces, this second lengthy piece contains all the previous elements with a few derivations. For example, although the bass has been more of a supporting act in the other compositions, in this one, it receives a bit of focus. That signature twinkling guitar after the silence is stellar.

'Caronte' Similar in tone to 'Challenger,' the grunge factor is mixed with a pulsating rhythm, almost a heartbeat. In time, it evolves into full-blown metal, ending with a nice bass groove.

'Japanese Rockets' Although clearly the same band, the guitar players involve other techniques, such as palm-muted phrases, which add subtle variety to what could have easily become a stale listening experience.

I don't really remember how I got to know Jardin de la Croix' music, but since I first listened to their music I was really interested. This band from Spain offers instrumental music with a clear post-rock tendency, they are the first Spanish band I know into this musical genre, and they really do a good job. They may not be as known as they deserve, but I am sure more people is getting into their music little by little, so please help them spreading the word.

Now in this 2013 they released their third (yes, third) studio album, showing the world they have the will and quality to look forward and create music that can please the strictest ears. The title of the album is "187 Steps to Cross the Universe", featuring four compositions that make a total time of 32 minutes, and this might be the main problem, I think it is so short, maybe another song would have rounded the 40 minutes, I said this because when the last song ends I say "and that's it? I want more!".

The album kicks off with "Man Made Lightning" , and since the very first seconds they let us know the music will be an explosion of sounds and feelings; I [%*!#]ing love the energy they produce, I want to shake my head and eat the world while they are playing with such an energy and technique. The drums are filled with power, while bass and two guitars begin to speak between themselves, creating a vertiginous chat. After a minute the revolutions slow down for a while, but then it explodes again, adding new textures in the sound. Probably my favorite passage is after four minutes when they become crazy and share that power with their strings and drums.

"Topsy's Revenge" has more cadency, inherent softness with repetitive & hypnotizing guitars that create a delicious sound. After a minute drums appear and little by little a new structure is being created, a new story and much more emotions shared. What I love is how they manage to reach a climax, with an explosive movement that all of a sudden slows down without doing any harm, and then, just a few seconds later they bring again their powerful energy, so the music becomes awesome. After six minutes the song seems to finish, but wait three seconds and it will rise from the ashes to give us two last powerful minutes.

Let me tell you that though Jardin de la Croix provides the heavy side of post rock, they don't fit under the post metal genre, not at all, so don't get confused, don't prejudge and better give them a spin. The third track is "Colorado Springs" , it starts fats but little by little becomes faster and faster, the compositional and technical skills of the members are undeniable good, their talent is inherent and that can be easily appreciated in the songs. I am not sure, at least in the credits of this page does not appear, but I believe somewhere in this song keyboards appear creating a very soft atmosphere. In the final minutes a violin or a cello can also be appreciated, once again, I am not sure if they were played by a guest or one of the members used synth effect. But well, the song is really cool.

Finally, the longest composition closes the album, its name is "Talking with Planets" and it starts with a kind of scary spacey sound that is fading out little by little, but restarts when guitars appear, just before reaching the first minute bass and drums enter and then a piano can also be heard. Here I like the contrasts they produce, because the music can be soft and charming, but all of a sudden turn into an aggressive and powerful one. Here the bass sound stands out, I believe it is the song in which I could appreciate it better. Great song to finish a great album.

I am very satisfied with this band's music, and I want to invite you to discover it, you will not regret. My final grade will be 4 solid stars.

Enjoy it!

Jardín De La Croix is one of the most exciting secrets currently existing in the experimental arena of Spain's rock: hailing from the Moratalaz district in Madrid, this instrumental quartet creates a muscular and complex framework whose main nucleus comprises elements of psychedelic prog, math-rock and prog metal. The band's sound is ballsy and powerful, yet far from rough: in fact, the finesse abundantly used by the performers as a well-oiled unit can easily be perceived among the undergoing fire delivered in the riffs and rhythmic developments. Now that the band is on the brink of recording and producing their future sophomore release, it feels like a good time to review their debut album Pomeroy". 'Polyhedron' occupies the first 9- minutes: its spacey intro opens up the doors wide for the delivery of a solid main body, which somehow sounds to my ears like a middle ground between compatriot band Psicotropia and the sort of progressive adventure incarnated by Chilean bands Exsimio and Flotante. I feel coincidences and compatibilities, not necessarily patterns or influences (I don't know about the, anyway). At the 3 ½ minute mark or so, things get more intense, but it won't be long before the music shifts toward smoother places. At this point, a contemplative aura is being developed right before the unexpected arrival of an explosive climax sets the road for the track's coda. An impressive opener, indeed, and equally impressive is 'Jesse Harding', a track that alternates rocking explosions, humorous excursions in bossa nova moods and constrained pychedelia. 'Suomi' bears an undeniable Don Caballero-eets-Primus feel: its demanding, frantic pace states an open challenge to the rhythmic duo. At the 3'40" mark, things turn to the technical death-metal area, somehow related to the Behold The Archtopus and early Canvas Solaris standards. The later addition of acoustic guitar strumming brings a colorful detail for the pulsating atmosphere that flood the coda all the way to its fade-out. A fade- out? In a case like this, it seems a bit inconvenient to my ears, certainly anti-climatic? but, well, that's what there is, and all in all, this track comprises one of the most brilliant compositional works delivered by the band. 'Boston Steamer' is the longest piece in the album. The first mood states a constrained ambience quite related to space-rock and post- rock, based on a minimalistic idea that is properly refurbished by the dual guitars; the second mood sets things on fire in a sort of "Crimsonized math-rock" way, which finds the band working hard on enhancing the architecture itself. Muscle and precision are the two most defining virtues of JDLC's own progressive voice, and so, in 'Boston Steamer', the foursome made them their actual compositional strategy. 'Antioquía', just like the opener, starts with a spacey intro, a bit longer this time: by now, the delivery of heavy psychedelic riffing, prog metal complexity and math-rock adventure is no surprise, but if more great music has to come from this formula, we must rely on inventive writing, and JDLC continues to write artistically engaging material such as 'Antioquía', and in fact, it turns out to be yet another highlight of "Pomeroy". The album's closer 'Synaesthesia' incarnates a perfect example of vivacity and extroversion in the language of guitar-based prog: it is perfectly coherent to finish this exciting album with such an agile track. Jardín De La Croix is a good reason for the regular prog collector/appreciator to enjoy great aesthetic experiences in the new millennium. Let's pay attention to this band properly!!