EL PROFETA

BIJOU was a short-lived progressive rock band that tried in vein to find a vocalist for their unique brand of symphonic prog meets neo-prog hybrid sound with touches of heavier rock in the vein of classic Rush however such a vocalist never materialized in the band's native Zamora, Spain and as a result BIJOU released its one and only album EL PROFETA in 2004 as a purely instrumental affair. Despite the band's one and done contribution to the greater world of prog, this album has amazingly seen three pressings with totally different cover art. The original self-released version features the cool hand with an eye on the palm, the 2005 Musea release another version with a deep sea angler and the Mexican label Luna Negra release the more colorful split screen effect with a collage effect of a man and deer-human.

This band consisted of Alberto Mateos (bass), Arturo González (drums), Nacho Morán (guitar), Rubén García (keyboards) and Álvaro García (guitar) with the gravitational center fo the band revolving around keyboardist Rubén García's exquisite musical skills. The rest of the band pretty much just supports Garcia's leads without ever really delving into interesting contrapuntal elements in their own right as the twin guitar attacks consist of nothing more than a chugging riffing section and the classic neo-prog guitar sweeps. The drums are also fairly lackadaisical however once in a while the band steps things up and everyone shifts into full gear. The album features seven tracks including the massive 24-minute closing title track which consists of three lengthy suites.

The album is quite long at 61 1/2 minutes for an instrumental prog album that sort of skirts on autopilot much of the time. The variations of the keys are impressive but unfortunately the rest of the band doesn't really deliver equally compelling contributions although bassist Alberto Mateos holds his ground. The twin guitar effect suggests more variations in that department but the two guitarists seem to be content just keeping the melodic touches afloat without really adding any creative stamp. As the album strings along it becomes apparent that the band was just crying out for a vocalist because this really sounds like a karaoke version of a prog performance as this style of music is typically built around a strong vocalist's lyrical delivery. Since there is none the album sort of comes across as an intricately designed scaffolding system with no house to paint.

The band was not without potential but this sounds more like a rough draft or rehearsal that was crafted to woo in a talented vocalist but for whatever reason this style of music presumably was not the most popular game in town in the far western city of Zamora situated next to the Portuguese border. While the melodies are strong, everything comes across as just too safe for its own good. Even the keyboards never really take off into wild and adventurous territories. It's a basic prog by the numbers that needed to be embellished upon with at least one member stepping up to the plate to infuse the basic musical flow with some sort of creative edge. While a pleasant listening experience, unfortunately BIJOU wasn't really ready for primetime at this stage and decided to record and release what it had crafted rather than disappearing without a trace. Commendable for a band in a region of Spain rarely associated with this sort of music. Good but not great unfortunately.