QUANTUM PHASE TRANSITION

As I've said before, this is a good era for Spanish progressive music. In recent years, we've heard great bands like Malabriega, Noah Histeria, Cielo Drive, Vientos Moderados del Este, Jordi Farreras, Joan Villalonga, and Javier Miranda. The Astronomy Records label has been steadily guiding the genre's train, along with Rafa from the Amarxe label?another Spanish imprint leaving a strong mark on the global prog scene.

Now we have Eksilo, a very interesting band that bursts through the front door with a strong debut. Quantum Phase Transition blends extreme metal with jazz fusion and neo-progressive touches. When I heard the opening track, "Patibulum," I was caught off guard?in a good way. It's a devastating, powerful start. But from there, the album slowly moves away from that intensity and drifts into something more predictable. Not bad, just less gripping. The band clearly has chops?these are skilled, creative musicians? but as the album progresses, the surprise factor fades and things start to drag. Some tracks left me wanting more; others just wore me out.

Eksilo is a great band with a promising future. They're still finding their voice, and that's okay. If the album had a more defined concept or theme, it might've held together better. As it stands, I'd stick with "Patibulum" and "Evolution" as highlights. The rest, while well played, didn't quite land for me and at times slipped into boredom. Despite that Eksilo is a great band that deserves more stars but for now on it has to improve those moments and evolve.

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