HUASCARAN

A concept album (though instrumental) about the tragic earthquake that took place in Peru in 1970. The name of the album comes from the mountain where the quake was centered. The title of the second song "80,000" refers to the number of victims from that disaster. There was a group of climbers from their country (now Slovakia) who were on that mountain at that time, and is the reason for them doing this as a tribute.

"Huascaran I" is the longest of the four tracks at close to 14 minutes. It's spacey to begin with as keys come in but they are sparse. We get a beat as bass and drums come in before 2 minutes.The violin is so mournful 5 minutes in as it calms right down. A change 8 minutes in as vocal melodies and synths take over.Tasteful guitar 9 minutes in. Another change 10 1/2 minutes in as synths come in and build as the guitar lights it up. Some huge bass after 12 minutes that goes on and on to the end. "80,000" opens with liquid keys with no real melody. We start to get a beat 1 1/2 minutes in as the sound and tempo build to a fairly heavy sound. Nice bass. It calms down 4 minutes in with a great sound to follow. Aggressive guitar 6 minutes in as drums pound away. Love it !

"Solidarity" is such a good song. More of a band effort really with some excellent interplay. It's fun just listening to all the intricate sounds. The guitar starts to make some noise after 5 minutes. It then calms right down as piano only takes over to the end. "Huascaran II" hits the ground running, very unlike Part I. Deep bass lines and impressive drumming as synths wash in the background. Guitar before 2 minutes is pretty raw. It settles 5 minutes in with chunky bass light drums and keys. The tempo picks back up 7 minutes in with tasteful guitar. A calm before 9 1/2 minutes to end it. Reflection.

A must for fans of Jazz / Fusion.