RUIDO DOMESTICO

Kré is one of the most bizarre instrumental groups in the current world of prog: their music is certainly designed to be an acquired taste, but lovers of avant-garde jazz, RIO and Mel Collins era-KC are very likely to fall in love with this band even at first listen, since these sources are prominent influences in the forge of the band's musical style. As bold as I may sound, I find "Ruido Doméstico" a true prog masterpiece of our times. Occasionally it may remind us of "From Within"-era Anekdoten without the mellotrons, and some other times, of post-Wyatt Soft Machine, but generally speaking, these guys managed to come up with a sonic foundation of their own. The first two tracks are based on angular musical ideas arranged and delivered in a most exquisite manner, with a delicacy that does not hide, but recycles the inherent tension of the compositions in a most peculiar way - 'Primera Cortada' and 'Doro' are showcases for Kré's ability to perform weird harmonies on complex rhythm patterns without getting pompous. There is also something quite special in the way that all musicians manage interact with flawless fluidity. The presence of a guest saxophonist helps to enrich the melodic potentiality of the track in which this horn appears, while a more recurrent guest on electric piano assumes the role of reinforcing the constant jazzy cadence of the band's sound. Tracks 3 & 4 are less complex, even more relaxing, but never too conventionally pleasing. And nothing could get farther away from the rules of conventional pleasing than the title track, a wicked architecture of guitar soundscapes and dense low-key synth layers upon which shades of cello go floating by. all of it in an almost 7-minute span. This exercise in minimalism has got a definite nerve-craving twist, yet its disturbance is delivered with total finesse. 'Ilvico' contains some hints to Latin jazz (perhaps the most "optimistic" track in the album), while 'Sigiloso' keeps itself solidly rooted on jazzy ground. 'Champignon' is a delicious rockabilly-meets-charleston based number with a brief jazz-rock interlude and a massive psychedelic coda, which is actually a reprise of teh aforementioned interlude. The major appela of this track is that it portrays an aura of candorous joy in the rockabillly motif that is twice interrupted by the disturbingly rough interlude and coda, as if the yhad the specific mission to destroy the joy - wicked! The final track is also the longest one: the 10+ minute 'Ornamento' brings the most intense passages of the album. The powerful guitar riffs are effectively adorned by soprano sax and cello interventions at places, while the rhythm due keeps the languid tempo robustly, anchoring the track somewhere between hard rock and Crimson-oriented prog - awesome!. Let me conclude by reiterating that "Ruido Doméstico" is a genuine masterpiece, and as such it deserves the perfect ProgArchives rating.

[I dedicate this review to my Venezuelan brother Guillermo Paladino]