LUZ INTERNA

What a great finding, and right around the corner! Meet Ekos, a young and promising mexican progressive rock band that started out as a Pink Floyd tribute, but due to the talent of its members soon began writing their own songs. Although the influence of several bands can be noticed they have definetly developed a sound of their own. They have just released Luz Interna (Inner Light), their debut album, and what a debut it is! It starts with "Obscuridad" (Darkness) and right from the start you can appreciate their musical skills, Ana Camelo's keyboards and Jesus Torres' guitar are the highlights of this track, supported by the strong foundation of Victor Juarez on bass and Ricardo Castro on drums. This song has a very strong ending which contrasts perfectly with the next songs: "Luz Interna" (Inner Light), Mutacion (Mutation) and "Rostro Oculto" (Hidden Face) which show the sensitive aspect of the band and give us a chance to appreciate their vocal skills. Once again we have intense playing on "La Huida Del Infierno" (The Escape From Hell), an instrumental that sets us for the grand finale, the epic "Apocalipsis" (Apocalypse), which showcases the characteristic aspects of the band: shifting moods that start with quiet sections that slowly transform into agressive and extended soloing and back again to parts that induce us to reflection. In general a strong debut for these young and cultivated musicians who already have quite an important following in Mexico City and its suburbs, playing concerts almost every weekend. It is worth to keep an eye on them! Four stars.

Review originally written for www.therocktologist.com

New music echoing in Mexico.

Some years ago I could attend to a concert in which a bunch of bands were playing covers from their different idols, and the band that closed the night (the main act, actually) were Ekos, who as you can imagine, offered a tribute to Pink Floyd. I was happy because I love PF a lot, but also because the band's performances was great, with high quality and a cool choice of songs, I remember they even played Rick Wright's "Breakthrough", which made me smile and feel sort of nostalgia.

Curiously, I met Ekos' keyboard player in a Riverside concert some days ago, and she told me they had released their first album, but not as a tribute band, but as an original one, something that made me feel interested, so I ask her for a CD and I can say I am satisfied with the result. Their debut album is entitled "Luz Interna", features 6 songs and a total time of 60 minutes, and though their PF roots are undeniable, the music does not get pigeonholed. It kicks off with "Obscuridad", and I cannot deny the first minute it reminded me of Floyd's "One of these days", however, the music changes into heavy prog in the second minute, with the entrance of drums and prominent keyboards. The voice appears after four minutes, but only for an instant, because later the instrumental passage explodes, creating a climax and a salad of nuances, I love the keyboard work and the guitar riffs. Great opener track.

"Luz interna" has a sweet start, very soft, calm and melancholic; after a minute, male vocals appear and add a mellow touch to the already mellow sound. The music flows and progresses little by little, so then we can feel a spacey touch made by keys, while strings become a bit intense, creating all of them an emotional track. Nice, but definitely not my favorite of the album. The next piece is "Mutación", the start is awesome, vertiginous, full of textures, nuances and colors, it is bombastic so one can feel excited while listening to it, but it finishes after a minute and a half, when the music changes completely, slows down, giving a moment of relaxation with vocals, nice drums and a soft keyboard atmosphere, this structure continues at least for 5 minutes more, until it begins to add heavier and tenser sounds finishes with an explosion. Honestly, it is a great song, challenging, but I would have preferred it without that contrast, I mean, I would have left out the soft sound and let the music run in that heavy and bombastic sound.

"Rostro oculto" has a very soft mood at least for the first three minutes; the music is calm, tranquil, we can hear a sweet post-rock like guitar playing here and there, while bass and keys appear in a really discrete way, accompanying the voice. Then the intensity increases a little bit for a minute until it slows down again and returns to its original form, creating a beautiful instrumental passage in the last minutes, bringing some memories back to my mind. "Huida del Infierno" contrasts with the previous one, here they offer once again that powerful and bombastic sound of a heavy-symphonic band. The composition is wonderful, very thoughtful and challenging, none of the instruments are lost in space, all of them have something to share and together give a great result, I like the multiple changes they bring, with inclusion of new atmospheres, moods, and impressions. After three minutes it becomes faster, I imagine myself in vertigo, running scared for my life; when you imagine things, then the music has succeeded with you, as in this case.

The album finishes with its long epic, the 21-minute length "Apocalipsis", in which we will find a saucerful of secrets (pun intended), elaborated in order to please the strictest progressive rock fan. Though this is the longest track, I will not describe all its length, just a few passages if not this review would be endless. I would like to say that Ekos has a point when they decided to make much more instrumental music that with voice, I like the voice but it is not essential though it adds a special flavor in some moments, such as in its first appearance in this track. Later the music flows, makes a lot of things, creates stories, passages, moments of life that can describe us, you just have to let your imagination fly, the music will do the rest.

A great debut album by this young Mexican band, I foresee moments of success and I hope their music can reach more and more people from the whole globe. My final grade will be 4 solid stars.

Enjoy it!

It gives me double pleasure to write this review. First, because I really love this album and second because it's a Mexican band and well I'm Mexican. Luz Interna is an extraordinary album that takes you on a music ride through various moods and atmospheres. Ana's keyboards are truly amazing, sounding vintage in spirit and modern in execution. Her playing is superb and full of dynamic chops adding real depth to the songs. Jesus's guitars, clearly influenced by Gilmour, sound unique and personal. He plays in the spirit of the great ones, with delicacy when the songs fall into quiet passages and with powerful playing when they erupt in their mesmerizing power. Victor's bass is subtle, and matches the music perfectly well, pulsing behind the interplay between keys and guitars. Carlos, the new drummer, plays live with even more strength and dedication than the previous occupant. This is prog that needs to be heard all over the world. I've been a proghead since I was 12 years old (31 atm) and I can say that few bands have impressed me like Ekos did with this album and their live playing. I'm definitely a one proud Mexican prog head!