COSMOLOGY

Kotebel returns! And the band is tighter, more polished, more virtuosic than ever! And flutist extraordinaire Omar Acosta is back! This time the band take on a concept album with a philosophical thread using a progression of human thought capacity from Newtonian mechanical/physical to quantum/spiritual and even into world religious.

1. "Post Ignem" (8:26) Slow, lumbering NeoProg. Simple, straightforward melody riffs, which grow in complexity as congas, synths, bass and electric guitar amp it up. Still, flute is present, bass thump-thump-thumps, and then it's over: a quiet section. This song is familiar to me in a "Pentacle Suite" kind of way--like a more concise, modernized version of the 2007 release. Big tympanic rolls signal a switch back to the first verse. Small, little hints of the main melody from piano, synth, and flute flit in and out while the rhythm section presses on. The final minute uses a skeleton version before ramping up for the final crescendo. Nice song. Such fine-tuned professionals! (9/10)

2. "Geocentric Universe" (7:34) Jazz. Opens with an ALIO DIE-like walk through a sacred temple or mosque before solo flute establishes the main melody. Spanish guitar and harpsichord and then piano follow before drums, hand percussion, and bass enter! The music is so restrained--it's wonderful! And hand drums! A kind of prolonged jazz coda follows--reminding me of John Coltrane or Miles. The band rejoins establishing a jazzy, Monk-like groove with changing tempos and melodies. At 4:30 Omar Acosta shows us why he's been so missed--providing the glue to move forward and into the next more-piano-based section. You go, Adriana! Then an awesome merengue-like Latin-rhythm section follows over which Omar and Cesar fly! Wow! What a ride! A top three song for sure! (10/10)

3. "Mechanical Universe" (7:53) full out complex symphonic prog rock as only Kotebel can do it. Two main sections--or forces--playing at each other, vying for ascendance. Great lead guitar work! Break for piano and then Spanish guitar with bass and congas weave a very demanding tapestry. Piano and synths join in, then industrial sounds for percussion break before we return to one of the main themes with electric guitar screaming out its case. Divert into a more intricate stoccato weave before bass and drums are given a little showtime. All the while piano is providing the rhythmic foundation for everyone else! Final minute has the band laying it all out there with guitar-led prog rock at its finest. (9.5/10)

4. "Entangled Universe" (8:46) opening with a mischievous flute-and-synth melody line, organ and Spanish guitar and piano then take over, before Adriana and Jaime establish the main rhythmic foundation for some stellar soloing and dueling from piano, flute, and electric guitar. Pause to assess position, electric guitar and flute talking, before switch to deep, heavy, bass-led slow-down section (using same melodies). Somehow the music undiscernably speeds back up (with some awesome bass playing) while flute and electric guitar take turns shouting at each other. Synth puts in his two cents! Guitar and flute seem unfazed while piano provides the underlying manpower for everybody else. Another switch to deep, heavy, slow, this time with jazzy bass play. The melodic themes are again recapitulated by everyone while tempo speeds back up and jazzy drumming drive the show. At the end of the seventh minute a kind of dreamy piano-flute-led section takes over before chunky bass and drums rejoin. Then all hell breaks loose again with guitar and flute making their final cases over the frenzy of the rest of the ensemble. Wow! What a show! What a battle! (9/10)

5. "Oneness" (8:15) piano intro for the first 30 seconds, joined by electric guitar arpeggi, synthesizer, and flute before bass and drums join in. At 1:40 synth calliope/organ chords and flute take on the soft intro interlude before the full band crashes back in to take us on a nice ride with synth, flute, piano, and rolling bass leading the way. At 3:20 electric guitar and flute seem to take the lead, alternating turn taking. Organ and piano team with bass and drums to take us into the next dimension--a repeat of the section that they did before. Incredibly well performed intricacies--six musicians, each occupying one track, jamming together. In the seventh minute the beautiful Santana-like lead melody comes to front and center through the electric guitar with gorgeous synth wash chords backing it. The song then slowly, carefully de-escalates, taking its structure apart piece by piece. Stunning song. One of my top three on the album. (10/10)

6. "Mishima's Dream" (5:29) one of Kotebel's more adventurous, working-outside-their-box songs opens with some DEEP PURPLE/URIAH HEEP-like bombast from electric guitar and organ. The pace being set by the rhythm section is actually rather slow and plodding. Then, at the end of the second minute everything slows and softens while electric guitar performs some nice arpeggi in support of a cool, extended synth "pipe" (a la Keith Emerson) solo. Next section lets the organ and electric guitar rock it out. Disjointed guitar solo is not so classic rock as much as avant jazz. Organ's turn is more Wakeman-esque than ELP. Final 50 seconds is unusual for soft, spacey decay before rock electric guitar finger pickings bring us to the end. Cool song! So different for the Madrid masters! (9/10)

7. "A Bao a Qu" (4:30) Synths, piano, then bass-supported electric guitar take turns expressing their wonder and curiosity. At the very end of the second minute, drums, bass and rhythm guitar establish a jazzy little rhythm foundation over which synths and piano continue their conversation. Guitar joins in for a few bars before synth and piano again. Finally, at 3:20, the electric guitar can take the restraint no more--Cesar breaks out with a brilliant burst of exasperation before the band settle back into a "Court of the Crimson King"-like passage before ending with silence. (10/10)

8. "Canto XXVIII" (7:21) The third song in a row in which the band test themselves by moving into realms that are, for them, experimental: polyphonic instrumental threads moving in polyrhythmic sequences. Then acoustic guitar work (would call it classical were it not performed on steel stringed guitar) with distant piano. Staccato electric guitar chords, thick bass and drum weave, organ odd, polyrhythmic time signatures weaving in and out of cooperation. King Crimson outdone! Maybe my favorite song Kotebel has ever done. Brilliant! (10/10)

9. "Paradise Lost" (3:04) piano arpeggio, synth melody line, and piano establish a bit of a deep conversation here. It's not until the beginning of the first minute that the piano finally gives us enough music to guess at a full key signature. Father-daughter; father waning, keeping to the background while daughter wonders "aloud." (8/10)

It has taken me a very long time to review this album because it has taken me a very long time to really get to know this very dense album--dense and sophisticated, as all Kotebel albums are. That is why they are one of the premier prog bands around because they have such intricate performances and virtuosic instrumentalists (all of them). What makes this album stand above the others is the polish, the adventurousness, the courage and bravery, and the growing technical command each and every member has over their instrument and over their contributions to the overall weave of the compositions. There is not a bad or weak song on this album (there never is on a Kotebel album) and there are some that are extraordinary. If you haven't got on board with this band, you need to. One of the true masters of modern progressive rock music.

Five stars; a true masterpiece of complex symphonic progressive rock. Again I ask: Why all the love for Anglagard when there is Kotebel?!!!