IN SUDDEN WALKS

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Not too many prog fans and collectors have paid much attention to Chilean group Aisles' sophomore release "In Sudden Walks" throughout last year: actually, this may have been one of the 5 most accomplished neo-prog albums of 2009. Shame on us all! "In Sudden Walks" is a lovely collection of inventive compositions and bold arrangements. As impressed as I had been a few years back with their debut "The Yearning", I found it as a half-baked effort overall that didn't manage to fulfill its evidently abundant potential. All in all, a few good things were clear about the band from that debut album: they were inspired writers and they were keen on preparing bold arrangements that made the musicality prevail over the need for pyrotechnics. With a generally suave sonority, the band could sound as majestic as many other louder bands in the symphonic and neo-prog territories. Well, "In Sudden Walks" bears more stamina, equal richness of musicality and a more refined performance level ? the latter factor is in small degree due to the fact that Aisles now comprises real drums and a permanent bass player, that is, a rhythm duo that can work on its own within the global sonic architecture. The opener is 'Mariachi', a sophisticated instrumental that almost clocks at 10 minutes. Without lyrics, the vocal parts are excerpts of sexy dialogues between the male and female characters from a movie. In this way, the whole idea sets out to bear a cinematographic mood to it while remaining a genuine musical item in its own terms. Right from the start, the dynamics shows an undeniable appeal. If you notice some peculiarity about it, that is due to the powerful inclusion of Latin-fusion undertones through the instrumental development. Symphonic neo combined with Latin cadences? This equation works, believe me. Once the slow interlude emerges and settles in, the guest trumpeter adds a extra colorfulness to the ceremonious atmosphere: there is also a guest on contrabass adding occasional nuances to the rhythmic scheme. Eerie passages are predominant until we get to the 7 ¾ minute mark, which is when the initial extroverted ambiance is solidly retaken. After this impressive opener, 'Revolution Of Light' shows the band going for the standard of moderately complex catchiness that the most impressive neo songs usually go for: shaded of early 90s Marillion and late-80s Pallas can be traced here, but the time signatures are more demanding (in spite of seeming an almost danceable rocker). 'Summer Fall' partially aims at preserving the agile mood that dominated the extroverted preceding track, but now, in a more ambitious framework, it gives more room to elaborated landscapes of nostalgia and reflection. The now dominant soft passages are patently gentle, making it easy to link the motif shifts through fluid, well-constructed transitions. As soon as the opening motif returns (at the 5 ¾ minute mark), the track's architecture concentrates on extroversion and color, including an elegant climax that ends at the 8 minute mark. The last 115 seconds are based on a pastoral descent that bears Camel inspirations. 'The Maiden' is a different beast, something more akin to late-70s Oldfield, classic Anthony Phillips and Renaissance. For this piece, the band leaves the neo-prog standard behind in favor of a more focused vintage symphonic sound where the bucolic environment is dominant. There is also a reasonable utilization of Latin nuances for good effect, making the lovely melodic motifs enhance their natural warmth. Even in those occasions when things are spiced up, the track retains its romantic magic in intact form. With its sharp 4 minute span, the eerie 'Smile Of Tears' is the shortest piece in the album. The featured presence of digital cosmic textures in its main theme openly states a contrast against the preceding song. The piano coda is just lovely. The shortest song is succeeded by the longest one, the 15? minute long epic 'Hawaii'. Right from the start, the ceremonious overtones prevail with a certain mysterious mood. Mixing the cosmic spirit of the preceding track with a powerful melancholic aura, the piece delivers a long-term sense of calm majesty where neo-prog, old-fashioned symphonic and new-age unite. Later on, after the halfway, the track sets a crafty variation, even intensifying the sonic atmosphere a bit for a while. The dual guitars' textures are lovely, and so are the synth lines and harmonic developments that softly go on until the fade-out ends. Like I said earlier in this review, shame on us all who overlooked this beautiful album during 2009: now, our redemption can be assured by purchasing this album and enjoying its plenty of musical qualities. Aisles can be safely regarded as a totally matured band.

AISLES' second album, "In Sudden Walks," is brilliant! It is symphonic, melodic, ethnic, emotional, well performed, well engineered and recorded, beautifully sung, and very fresh and new feeling--very much, I think, (like MAD CRAYON's beautiful "Preda,") due to its ethnic influences. Three of the album's six songs clock in at around 10 minutes with a fourth at nearly 15--and all are of the highest caliber symphonic prog. Only one song--one of the shorts, "Revolution of Light"--falls short of the standard and feel set by the rest of the album.

I love "Mariachi"'s exploitation of the overt sexuality so typical of Latin American television. "Summer Fall," and "Ice Maiden" should, IMHO, be in everyone's playlist of prog classics. Their multi-layered instrumental interplay is so pervasive and playful, with so many twists and turns yet with equally as many returns to very catchy melodic hooks, while all the while threaded together by some great, almost mythic, lyrics sung in absolutely beautiful vocal performances. "Hawaii" is often pacifying, calming, dreamy, though it too has it's frequent tempo and mood changes.

Overall, an incredibly enjoyable and engaging listening experience. Highly recommended!!

I quite agree with Cesar Inca: this little gem was one that was sadly overlooked from among the 2009 harvest. But: It's not too late! Get it NOW!

"In Sudden Walks" is the second album from Chilean proggers Aisles, a band that has matured quite a lot in 4 years.

This time around a central trait of their compositions is that they very much defy a clear defining sound, and while the symphonic aspects may arguably be said to be dominating there's much more going on here as well.

From the opening numbers spoken theatricals set against musical backdrops with rather sophisticated and varied instrumental passages in between to the neo meets lounge jazz meets dreamy psychedelic creation ending this disc in the shape of the tune Hawaii, this production is something of a tour de force from a band that has managed to incorporate great diversity to their musical ventures.

And while not quite managing to pull of the truly brilliant tracks yet, Aisles show promise of managing to do just that, possibly in the near future. Worth checking out of you might enjoy a sophisticated melodic and most often mellow and subdued variety of progressive rock touching upon early 80's Rush as well as neo progressive rock from the same era, spiced with psychedelic, spacey and jazzy touches at times.

To very loosely quote Oscar Wilde, to squander one album may be regarded as a misfortune; to squander both looks like carelessness. Such is sadly the case with uber talented AISLES from Chile. Their musical schooling is undeniable, yet they persist in their initial tendency to kill a buzz before it has a chance to flourish. Add to that the short running time of the album and the fact that the two tracks that consume almost half are at times more ambient or narrative than rock and you have another disappointment.

On the plus side, the "sound" is simply impeccable, the acoustic and electric guitar timbres invigorating, the vocals appealing, and the South American influence even occasionally apparent. The highlights are the almost AOR like "Revolution of Light", the uneven but ultimately winning potpourri of harmonics "The Maiden" and the brief but rewarding "Smile of Tears". The remaining tracks all have their moments but fail to gel, and even the best here could have been better, had AISLES been willing to splice and dice here and there.

Just one or two moves from 4 star status, AISLES remains a generally mellow neo prog group with a lot of unrealized potential. "In Sudden Walks" does represent a slight improvement in consistency over their debut even if it lacks a true standout track, so, as much in the hopes of further improvement as anything, I will round up and walk on.

'In Sudden Walks' - Aisles (8/10)

The second album by these Chilean proggers is also my second experience with them. In their debut 'The Yearning', I had a great deal of potential from Aisles, but it rarely ever felt like it was realized, despite that album being quite a beautiful listen. As is expected of almost all bands though, the act is supposed to be polished up a bit more by the time the sophomore rolls around, and in that respect, Aisles has succeeded here. With 'In Sudden Walks', the band has created a more consistent journey through their powerful take on melodic progressive rock.

The order for the day and Aisles' particular approach is that of highly melodic neo- progressive rock, with such acts as Marillion and Genesis often popping out of the band's sound. With the concept of 'melody' already being brought up a couple of times in this review thus far, one might be swayed to think that the music of Aisles is easily accessible and digested, but I found the contrary to be true. 'The Yearning' surprised me by how much my appreciation gradually grew for it over time, and the same is true here, to a greater extent. The Vergara brothers and fellow company are sure to work many hooks into their music, but with some tracks passing fourteen minutes in length, 'In Sudden Walks' is not bound to be a safe haven for any pop maniacs any time soon. Instead, the more involved tracks here cycle through a great many musical ideas, crossing a great deal of ground over their course. This can sometimes lead to a lack of song cohesion, which was something I noticed with the debut, and continue to sense here. While most prog listeners are going to be instantly attracted towards the longer 'epic' pieces, I personally find that Aisles makes some of their best statements in the more conventional work they do. 'Revolution Of Light' and 'Smile Of Tears' are both rather 'normal' in terms of length, but they accomplish a beautiful feeling to them, thanks to some keen songwriting skills and passionate performance from all members involved.

The first track 'Mariachi' is what I would most likely consider to be the weak point here, despite it having been chosen to open Aisles' music here. A mostly instrumental track save for the rather amorous panting of a latin couple a couple of minutes in, 'Mariachi' feels generally like an overture over anything else, and the lack of vocal melodies or hooks here does tend to take away from the overall enjoyment of the music. Aisles are skilled instrumentalists and can keep their performances interesting, but the opener here feels far too long for its own good, especially when considering the the first earnest vocal melody comes floating in a good ten minutes in. Mind you, that makes Sebastian Vergara's vocal introduction all the more exciting when it does come in.

Although Aisles does still tend to lose their cohesion when going into the longer tracks, 'In Sudden Walks' is a step over their debut in almost every way. The music here is certainly less immediate than it once was, but it reveals more rewards given enough patience. Even so, it still does not feel as if Aisles has reached their potential yet, so one can only wonder what sort of experience that the band's prospective third album will bring.

Aisles is a band from Chile and In Sudden Walks (2009) is their second album. It was released by their own label Presagio.

I usually don't review albums that are not just released. But the band is about to release their third album and was kind enough to send me their 2 previous CDs, so I've decided to review their latest album anyway.

In their debut album The Yearning (2005) the band was pretty much shooting its bullets to every side, that album was lacking unity. In Sudden Walks (2009) they corrected that.

In Sudden Walks (2009) has pretty much a similar tracklist to the one on their first album. 3 songs that are between 9 and 10 minutes long, 2 songs that are between 4 and 5 minutes long and one longer track, in this case a 15-minute-long track.

Aisles have learned a lot in the 4 years they took to record In Sudden Walks (2009). Also, by that point they had a fixed lineup that comprised 7 musicians, the first album lineup: Sebastián Vergara (vocals and flutes), Germán Vergara (electric and acoustic guitars), Luis Vergara (keyboards), Rodrigo Sepúlveda (electric and acoustic guitars), Alejandro Meléndez (keyboards) plus Felipe González (bass) and Felipe Candia (drums and percussion). This fixed lineup helps them to shape their music. Especially Felipe whose drums play a vital role on the album.

In Sudden Walks (2009) starts with 'Mariachi' which is a fabulous idea. The track is a theatrical piece where the band composed a very interesting piece of music with no vocals. Instead of vocals we have two actors staging a scene in a 'hot' text. A great initial track. Then we have 'Revolution Of Light' that is very Neo Prog with a bit of Asia. It's a Pop directed song with very good choruses. In 'Summer Fall' the band continues with the previous track sound but less Pop and more Symphonic. The track includes acoustic guitars moments in a Genesis way. Bass and drums are great together throughout the album but especially on this one.

In 'The Maiden' Aisles goes a bit more Folk, a bit of Chilean Folk music here and there. But this track has everything, many different parts within the song like New Age keyboards, fast parts, acoustic moments and Symphonic. 'Smile Of Tears' is shorter and it's kinda electronica. It's the weakest song on the album in my opinion. This is something that Kitaro would do but without the vocals.

Then we have the final track 'Hawaii'. Here we have a whole concept behind the song. It's a Sci-fi tale where human race is about to be eradicated. In the year 2300 after 8 wars 200 people were chosen for a space journey with an unknown destination. The main character of the tale was able to bring with him only one thing, he has chosen a gramophone and that's how the music actually starts. The music completely fits in the story. It is a long sound journey that you can take with your eyes closed. There's a bit of cabaret Jazz here and there but in general it is a big Symphonic Space Rock, which was a great ending for the album.

Aisles was able to achieve a great and solid album with In Sudden Walks (2009). With much more unity than their first record. Listening to In Sudden Walks (2009) makes me really want to listen their new album that should be released in the next months.

By the way, what an intriguing cover, still trying to get it.

(Originally posted on progshine.net)

Aisles is a progressive rock/art rock band from Chile formed around 2001 and releasing so far 2 albums, a new one is in making and will be released soon this year. Well, the second album named In sudden walks from 2009 is a really intresting album to my ears, quite better then their first offering full of memorable arrangements. I do not quite considered their music as neo prog, maybe slightly here and there influences, to me is more like an eclectic prog with art rock similarities. The music as I said is quite intresting, with nice instrumental sections with emotive passages both in guitar playing and in keybords department and plus a good voice. Vergara brothers done a good job here mainly, all the compositions are made by them. I particulary like Revolution Of Light , The Maiden or Hawaii, nice melodic prog pieces with guitars being very impressive to my ears, really , and more then ok interludes between musicians. All in all definetly a better album then the first who was already good in my book, this one tops it easely and why not one of the better bands and albums ever coming from South America in last years. Easy 4 stars, really strong.

In 2007 Aisles started working on their new album, a process that prooved to be quite slow, lasting over the year.A big factor was that the group was eventually shaping a stable crew.Felipe Gonzales, who played as a session bassist in the first album, was promoted to a full-time member and Aisles also recruited Felipe Candia behind the drum kit.The production of the album did last a bit too long as well, headed by the efforts of German Vergara, and the new release ''In sudden walks'' saw the light as a self-produced album in October 2009.

''Mariachi'' sets up the tone of what was going to be expected as a rather diverse work, combining flashy Neo Prog synths, orchestral grandieur and modern Heavy/Alt Rock touches ala PORCUPINE TREE in a long and interesting composition.The suprise come from the next bunch of tracks.Aisles' debut did have this British-styled Neo Prog attitude, but the following pieces are beyond imagination with the group sounding so British you could easily consider the album as a lost work from the 80's British Prog period.With echoes from the works of CASTANARC, JADIS, TWELFTH NIGHT and PALLAS, these tracks offer an elaborate Progressive Rock with instant melodies, atmospheric FLOYD-ian vibes, fantastic English vocals by the super-talented Sebastian Vergara and careful keyboard textures.Moreover the presence of acoustic tunes make the music very flexible and pretty attractive.Very good and well-crafted stuff.Reaching the end of the album, Aisles deliver the 15-min. long composition ''Hawaii''.And as with the previous tracks, the music is definitely interesting and well-executed, however it lacks the strength and energy of the rest of the album.Too much relying on stretched FLOYD-ian soundscapes and generating from atmospheric passages than any kind of rhythmic or melodic matrix, it flows in a constant slow tempo with laid-back guitars and keyboards and only a few minutes around the middle offer some more powerful lines with dual guitars, before falling again in a narcotic, slightly psychedelic mood.

The last track was rather a dissapointment, but the rest of the album contains certainly some very good British-styled Neo Prog with enough symphonic echoes to be appreciated by fans of the genre.I still believe this group can come up with something trully great in the future.Recommended.