UN MANUAL DE SIGNOS Y SÍNTOMAS

Music is a blessing, what would we do without it? And just like art, it is infinite and comes from all the parts of the globe, like this amazing project named Vientos Moderados del Este, a trio of quite talented musicians from Alicante, Spain, who have released their debut album entitled 'Un Manual de Signos y Síntomas'. It is comprised of seven compositions that make a total time of 53 minutes.

It kicks-off with 'La Familia' and woah, since the very first seconds they totally caught my attention, a rhythm that reminded me a bit of some old 70s acts from Latinamerica, blended with the very Spanish clapping, so they let us know they might take all the sounds they can from all the influences they love. The vocal game is great, I love the different colors and what they can produce; but also the bass lines are addictive, the drums mesmerizing, the guitars persuasive. Fine and quite creative prog rock full of changes in tempo and humor, a great and solid introduction to Vientos Moderados del Este's sound.

'No Habrá Paz Para los Vencidos' has a noisy 30-second introduction and later the music starts to being developed, there is a bit of Sui Generis, and also a bit of Primus, and also a bit of King Crimson, and also a bit of XTC, and also a bit of Goblin, haha. Sounds interesting, no? It totally is! And I am really happy to be reviewing this, because since the first time I listened to this album I felt quite pleased by the band's creativity and their challenging sound, because there is not a single boring second, they are always changing, creating and recreating, they are great as individual performers, but the three together create an amazing amalgam that can only produce positive results.

A thing I love is that the band decided to write and sing in Spanish, and I am not saying it because that's the language I speak, but because it is a way of keeping alive such a complex, delicious, motley language, and also because I always support bands defending their own words, before trying to get a spot in the market by choosing the popular English language (a language I also love and appreciate, by the way. So after this out-of-context paragraph, I continue with the review, now with 'Proxémica: partes 1-3', which is an adventurous instrumental chapter, where Cesar Espí on drums and keys, Pablo Mateo on guitar and Paco Esclapés on bass offer a masterclass of mutual understanding where it is evident they like what they play, the vibes are spread and we, as listeners take them with open arms.

'El discurso de despedida' has a catchier sound, with quite interesting lyrics that are (at least to me) easy to remember and sing. Soft rhythm that takes some 70s and 80s essence, with great keyboard and guitar solos, each one of them creating a diversity of textures and atmospheres that also produce different emotions. When César Espí introduced me to this album, he mentioned something I totally agree about their sound: "we place everything (the sounds) in a blenderand take whatever it delivers, without thinking about anything", and yeah, that is why we find quite a lot of sounds, musical genres, influences and references.

Talking about references and influences, and also with a bit of humor, they bring a song with a long title of 'La tarde en que Nietzsche pegó a Platón con el Mechero de Jim Morrison', which takes me once again to some Argentinian lands, in fact, it is quite curious that, to my ears, their sound is closer to some iconic bands from Argentina such as Crucis, Sui Géneris, or La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, than from other representative acts from Spain. After the third minute the song becomes faster, vertigo is implemented and the ride becomes more adventurous, one can feel it not only with the ears, but also with the body.

'Te Hace Falta un Escarmiento: Partes 1-2' is another great track where the trio show-off their abilities in composition and performance, with another mixture of sounds where pop, rock and prog converge. I like the distribution of the parts with vocals and the instrumental ones, because they are capable of changing shapes and delivering countless figures, nuances, feelings. There is a great guitar solo at miute three, just before the vocals enter once again, in a passage that is more emotional. I think the second part of the song comes after the fourth minute, where it becomes instrumental, sharing sounds from 80s new wave, 90s alt rock, and modern progressive rock.

Oh yeah, and now the mighty 16-minute epic that closes this magnificent album, its title is 'Vasilisa y la Bruja', and as you can imagine judging by its lenght, it is a rollercoaster of sounds, emotions and art. The first minutes are quite nice, soft tempo, easy to dig and enjoy but with a high level of fantasy and creativity which, I believe, was inspired by the story of Vasilisa the Beautiful, but here with a twist. At minute four an instrumental passage appears, gentle to our senses and though the intensity increases, the music is so nice that we can embrace it and feel totally relieved, satisfied. The keyboard, bass and drums work is great, but in this instrumental bridge it is guitar what blew my mind, with an amazing solo which is not necessarilly bombastic, though it shows Mateo's amazing skills. Tension is added at minute ten, some noises here and there, a kind of mini jam and a spacey atmosphere is delivered and then, all of a sudden, at minute 12 a jazzy section starts, letting us know once again, that these guys are able to play anything they desire, their musical knowledge is so vast that I am sure they can surprise themselves first, before surprising us, the listeners. The rockier side returns for the final minutes of this great track, and in a blink of an eye, the 16 minutes finish.

Congratulations to VMdE on this amazing debut album which has to be one of my favorite prog releases from this 2024. I wish you the best and may your music reach more and more ears and souls.

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