SOBRE EL ABISMO

Ficción is a Venezuelan trio that played a symphonic prog adorned with Latin jazz nuances and some refreshing jazz-pop airs: the original material (tracks 1-7) was most certainly a labour of love, since it was all recorded in the 79-86 time lapse, while they were struggling to obtain a recording contract. The major progressive influences seem to come from "Works"-era ELP, late 70s Camel and Bozzio-era UK. The band's repertoire is clearly focused on dynamics and excitement, as well as on an articulated foundation of the melodic lines and harmonic progressions. For his solos on synth, organ and electric piano, Lares manages to keep his virtuosity well harmonized with the melodic traits delivered in each track, while the rhythm duet provides a solid, precise basis. Those are the high points, but there is also a serious minus point that keeps this album from getting further than just good - this stuff starts to feel evidently repetitive while you are going from track 3 onwards, not in terms of musical ideas (keyboardist Lares never clones himself in his writing), but in terms of the rhythm section arrangements and the combinations of these with the keyboards' basic harmonies. While the freshness is still there, you can't avoid the thought that there is a certain lack of depth and originality in the development of the specific structure of each individual track - luckily, 'Pasiones' and 'No es Contigo' contain enough energy and bombast as to compensate for this negative factor [which actually isn't that serious, either]. These ones and the opening number are the best in the original repertoire: in fact, thanks to its fluid complexity, 'Isla Misteriosa' makes a most impressive opener. Tracks 8-10 were recorded by a reformed line-up, in 2000. The instrumentals 'Picacho de Gavilán' and 'El Virus' show us a much stronger Ficción, developing a more aggressive power trio sound, adding pompous Flamenco-like nuances in the former and keeping their penchant for Latin jazz in the latter - in fact, these tracks turn out to be the best ones in the whole CD, together with tracks 6 & 7. On the other hand' Noches de la Gran Ciudad' is nothing but a vulgar pop rock number that should pass unnoticed in its sandwiched location between the aforementioned instrumentals. A few days before I started writing this review, a Venezuelan prog friend of mine informed me that this band is starting the recording of their comeback album. If this project is properly accomplished, then it would be fair to hope for better things to come, given the sense of energy displayed in tracks 8 and 10.