WITH A LITTLE HELL FROM MORE FRIENDS

Here I am once again happy and excited writing a review about a Mexican artist-composer-musician-alien-lunatic who works under the moniker of Greco Bastián, a truly creative mind who have just released a terrific album entitled "With A Little Hell From More Friends", a kind of sequel of its 2022 predecessor "With A Little Hell From My Friends".

This man is a mystery, and though I have spoken to him via social media and seen a (supposely) recent picture of him, I have no idea who he is; in fact, a couple of years I saw Greco Bastian's music live with a bunch of great local musicians, and one of them told me he just played Greco's music but he had never seen him. Whether that was true or false, I love that kind of mystery and how the mastermind behind this project is capable of turning the world upside-down in order to deliver top-notch music.

While reading his Bandcamp's profile bio, he openly says he has no idea of how to play an instrument, but he knows how they must sound, which is why he focuses on composition and invites musicians from around the globe to play those sounds. This obviously is reflected on the album's title, but mostly on its credits, because there is a vast list of over 30 musicians from the prog, RIO, avant-garde, zeuhl, jazz, experimental music scene who contributed to make this album happen. It is crazy, and when you read the names you might quite surprised. So a big applause to Greco Bastián for this amazing gathering.

And now, the music. This is an 8-track album that makes a total time of 42 minutes that kicks of with "Koabïan Call to War Part 1", an evident reference to zeuhl creators Magma. Chaos and power are present since the first seconds, tension is provided by guitars, and then just before reaching the first minute the song changes a bit, adding some epic-like sounds which might work for a horror film, with a great keyboard work of Scherzoo's Vincent Sicot- Vantalon.

To me is incredible to achieve another band (a band you like, of course) playing your music, and this happens in "4009, The Mezking" which freatures the three of The Mercury Tree members, along with another musicians including one of my current favorites in the name of Markus Reuter. Well, the bass notes will get your immediate attention and then while the seconds pass the rhythm and energy increases, creating countless textures and elements that are quite exciting. Heavy prog music is delivered here, but of course, zeuhl, RIO, jazz, Crimsonian and Zappa-esque winks are quite evident.

With "Extitled" there is an extraordinary keys amalgam I could have never dreamt of, because legendary Magma's Patrick Gauthier plays piano and pairs with utterly talented Mexican composer Salvador Govea who is responsible of the keyboards here. Bass, drums and guitars as well help increasing the chaotic atmosphere, and that xylophone adds a kind of Gong's Gazeuse essence on it. Greco Bastian's music is never plain and that is amazing, so you will find several changes and inifite sounds on its tracks.

Odd-time-signature is also a constant concept in this album's music and we can tell it by listening to "Retitled", who also shows-off the skills of its featured artists such as Dominican sax master Jonathan Piña-Luduc or American crazymind and guitarist Matt Hollenberg. I love how there is always a tense atmosphere but instead of making us swith off, it produces a magical addiction so it is impossible to separate even one second from the headphones.

This feeling continues with the amazing "Baclamán, the Bad One", which features once again saxophone and xylophone, increasind the color palette on the sounds the musicians create. To compose music like this is quite a job, I don't really know how many days, months, years took Greco Bastián to devise these tracks, but it is clear his talent is beyond comprehension.

Believe it or not, the fire and adrenaline slows down in "Cosmetology", the craziness is still present, however, we can take a deep breath and relax a little bit. This track leads to a fantastic journey not only of sounds, but also of visual atmospheres, and that is something I appreciate a lot, because good music always modifies your senses and emotions. The guilty crew this time is linked to amazing bands like Miriodor and Yugen.

"Clownnecticut" is another gem with an exquisite mixture of textures, nuances and musical genres, its cathartic sound is really exciting, you won't stop moving your body as the music's rhythms, but also you will be persuaded by any of its instruments, because all of them add crucial notes or figures that clearly exemplifies what richness of sounds is.

And finally they give us "Kobaïan Call to War (Part 2)" which has the colorful touch of Roz Vitalis' Ivan Rozmainsky on keyboards, along with a superstar line-up that includes three guitarists playing three different solos.

I'd like to congratulate all the people involved in this release, mainly the fellow Mexican guys including my friend Miguel Saenger who played drums in three tracks and designed the amazing artwork.

After listening to this gem I think we all need a little bit of hell and friends to boost that hidden artistic and creative side we surely have. I hope this album generates interest among prog loves, because this is really amazing and I don't think we can witness a line-up like this one playing these crazy but outstanding compositions.

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