INTENCION

Very good debut work from this spanish band called Atila. I was not able to get the CD and I had to rely on a old vinyl copy a friend kindly lent me. So my review was based upon it, not the CD version. The first track, Intencion, just blew my mind when I first heard it! 24 carat symphonic prog , as my good friend Erik would say. Terrific classic prog stuff with great Hamond organ runs, strong rhythm section and excellent guitar lines that are quite heavier and Hendrix influenced. It reeks of Pink Floyd (Echoes was clearly an inspiration), ELP, Yes and all the great ones. Vocals are also good. Over 8 minutes of prog heaven!

Unfortunatly the three other remaining songs are not as good. They all start off quite well, but they kind of get lost halfway through, like they didn´t know how to develop the original ideas. A real shame since it is obvious those guys not only are skillful musicians but also capable of writing captvating tunes and provide original ideas. The insistent use of a female choir on several parts does not work well and soon becomes quite annoying (a mellotron would fit much better). Production is only average.

After several spins I can understand why so many other reviewrs liked Intencion. Atila has all the right elments to make a fine prog album. In my opinion they just were not mature enough at the songwriting department. They still need to hone their skills a little bit more. I´m looking forward to hear their second CD. But this one is not good enough to grant it a four star rating. Something between 3 and 3,5 stars would be a fair one. Good, but hardly essential.