OCELOS

'The voice of a Gothic angel'.

In the last two decades we could enjoy a a cascade of new and intersting bands that emerged from The New Latin- American Progressive Rock Movement: Angulart, Astralis, Supay, Seti, Amagrama, William Gray, Bauer, Flor De Loto, Entrance, Jaime Rosas Cuarteto, Vlad V and Toccata, to name a few.

Another interesting band from that prolific movement is five piece Chilean formation R-U Kaiser, they are on the brink of releasing a second album so I would like to go back to their first effort entitled Ocelos. The band is rooted in 2002 but it took five years before R-U Kaiser released their debut album entitled Ocelos, on the Chilean progrock label Watcher Records. R-U Kaiser their first effort is a concept album about the experiences of the different and emotional phases in the band, it contains four movements.

The first movement is Dioscuros (The Genesis - 09.12) : This is a very alternating piece with spectacular work on keyboards (from a soaring choir-Mellotron sound to a flashy synthesizer solo and powrful organ runs), wonderful and distinctive native female vocals and fiery guitar runs, it sounds very dynamic and exciting!

The second movement is Letargia (The Flight - 06.41) : A very atmospheric climate with the sound of the sea and birds, very mellow with those distinctive, high pitched female vocals and tender piano. Then gradually more hypnotizing with a slow rhtyhm delivering twanging guitar and a choir-Mellotron sound, a majestic piece of music that contrasts perfectly with the previous song.

The third movement is Semjases (The Encounter - 08.47) : This is also a very alternating track, from dreamy with wonderful female vocals to mid-tempo featuring propulsive guitar and drums, and flashy synthesizer flights. Finally a compelling final part with the focus on sensitive and fiery guitar work.

The fourth movement is Ocelos (The Future - 10.58) : R-U Kaiser their 'magnum opus' featuring lots of flowing shifting moods, sensational work on keyboards and guitar . In the end a splendid bombastic final part with awesome interplay between sparkling piano, propulsive and fiery guitarplay, beautiful female vocals, an adventurous rhtyhm-section and spectacular synthesizer runs, what an awesome symphonic rock sound!

To me this sounds as a strong debut CD, with variety, adventure, emotion and skills. You can hear that this band plays together for many years. If you are up to the very special native female vocals (to me she sounds like 'a Gothic angel'), this will be an exciting album to discover.

In August 2018 R-U Kaiser will release their new album entitled Desde La Oscuridad, 11 years after this very promising debut CD, I am looking forward to a first listening session!