FREAK

Freak is the most recent studio album of Alejandro Matos, a talented Argentinean songwriter. I didn't know him or his production so I was skeptical about what it was about. I'm pleased to say that his music is a great effort in a moody dark progressive rock, strange to find in Latin America. I think there's a lot to say about this music and the artist. The album is divided on three "chapters". The first five songs under the name of "Anormal" and it talks about different struggles on a "regular" life. The second, a single epic song called in Spanish "The Hell of the good ones (The absurd)" and the third part, "Normal", with the last 5 tracks of the album. So, let's see...

He is a great guitar player and the compositions focus on this particular instrument, mixed with prominent layered keyboards that set the mood and the dark vibe of the whole piece. The music is soft paced, with some ambience oriented music and heavy guitars. The compositions are strong and well oriented, I feel that the music never became self indulgent or flashy in any way. The songs are strong and the flow travels very well through the album. A special mention is the drum work, which is programmed but at the end it feels very "real", strong and matches great with the music. The sounds, the musical choices and the structures are quite great and it's easy to dive into the atmosphere, dark and very dark.

On the other hand, the vocals are maybe the most evident weakness of the album. As a personal single man project, is understandable that the musician and songwriter takes the duty of vocals but it's too evident the limitation of the range and technique he has. That been said, I have to point out that after the first listening the vocals are starting to grow on me. At the end, the style fits very well with the soft paced dark music and that's good, but I wonder how different it could be if Matos would invited a couple of guess singers into the album, that would help to make some songs shine better but I can live with what I get in this album.

Maybe another problem is that, even though the music flows great, it would need a couple of tracks a little different to make the journey less alike. It's a long piece of music and sometimes is good to have some breaks and escapes. Again, this do not take down the album, is just something that could be used for best results. The lyrics are interesting, the concept is very good and solid and there's always a twist here and there, and leaves you wondering what the real meaning of some sentences is. This strange piece of music is really great, professional, well produced and strong enough to be appreciated by any prog fan. I do recommend anyone to check this album. Not flawless but still great. 4 strong stars. Great addition to any prog collection.