LA ISLA DE LOS MUERTOS

The lyrics are in Spanish but I figured this must be a concept album because of all the spoken vocals and sampled sounds, and indeed I found out it is a concept record. This takes away a lot of the enjoyment from this record for me because the music seems to take second place to the concept.

"Transformacion Del Mito" features violin, faintly spoken words, along with birds chirping and water sounds. A rhythm comes in that is almost waltz-like as piano joins in. Not a fan of this one. "Pardos Fueron Frente Al Mar" opens with these methodical male vocals. It turns jazzy before a minute. The two male singers are speaking. A nice heavy soundscape 3 minutes in with some good sax. Thunder and rain before 5 1/2 minutes. Great sound a minute later with actual singing. "Algo Tenia Que Ver La Luna" opens with the sounds of waves, sea gulls and a ship. A catchy sax / drum melody takes over. "Pero Dios Los Visita" is led by smooth sax with again spoken vocals.

"Me Pregunto Entre Todas Las Preguntas" opens with more spoken words but it changes to an amazing soundscape of heavy drums and scorching guitar. "En Los Ojos De La Muerte" is good as vocals,bass and drums all sound excellent. "Caleta Tortel" features a nice drum / violin melody. Some cool bass 1 1/2 minutes in. "Seguramente Encontraremos" has a one minute intro that I love. It reminds me of why I like music from Chile so much. Spoken words and violin follow. "Las Palabras Viajan En El Viento" opens with sax and drums. I like it. Violin 3 minutes in. "Bajo Pisagua" opens with acoustic guitar and violin. Samples a minute in. "Lo Que Ha Quedado Solo Esto" has more samples of water and birds. A catchy melody a minute in. Vocals follow. Marching style drums late.

There are flashes of what this band could be if they just played music, but this is all about the concept. Good, but that's all.

With this third release "La Isla de los Muertos", Chilean band La Desooorden began to unweave and develop their progressive side after two albums in which they had focused on a more straightforward approach to rock-fusion. Now, this is a concept album about one of the most miserable moments of Chile's history: the termination of around 2000 people who worked for the Baker Exploitation Company in the XI Region: all of them had been taken to the distant region of Caleta Tortel and killed so the company wouldn't have to pay them their salaries. This dramatic story of greed, blood and injustice inspired poet Manuel Zúñiga to write a sort of epic, and that is where the band took their idea for this album. Poetry and social concern can easily motivate a sort of ambition in the musical domain, and La Desooorden properly accomplished this intuition. The band's sonic delivery is related to Koiak and Mar de Robles, as well as the Mexican band Maldita Vecindad (one of the most celebrated bands in Latin America in the 90s, despite their reluctance to be part of the mainstream), and for the more lyrical passages, Congreso. The album starts with a dreamy intro of piano and violin, portraying an air of mystery augmented by the sampled voices that represent the dead men, women and children's spirits. The dreamy stuff slowly developed into a creepy mood, although the disturbance is never explicitly explosive. 'Pardos Fueron Frente al Mar' brings us the whole ensemble's sound for the first time. The strong presence of extra percussions together with the permanent rhythm duo is highlighted in the global arrangement, although Pfeifer's sax and Banda's guitar noticeable display traces of refined energy. Both singers alternate chanting and narration, which also helps to convey the sense of drama inherent to the concept: actually, the recitations outnumber (or so I think.) the sung parts. 'Algo Tenía que Ver la Luna' keeps up with the momentum, reinforcing the jazz element: this song has hooks, but also a reasonable dose of complexity. 'Pero Dios Los Visita de Vez en Cuando' displays melancholic nuances, while 'Me Pregunto Entre Todas las Preguntas' shows the most aggressive facet of the band. The latter's vibrant scheme ultimately states an electrifying climax for the ambiences that had been first originated in the preceding track. 'En los Ojos de la Muerte' sort of recapitulates the moods conveyed on tracks 2 and 3. 'Caleta Tortel' is headed for the exotic potential of fusion, with guest violinist Benjamín Ruz assuming a preferential role in the instrumental architecture: a very majestic interlude. 'Seguramente Encontraremos' brings back the band's aggressive side, only this time blended with sophisticated interludes on martial rhythmic cadences, as well as a finale that is more evocative than flaming. 'Las Palabras Viajan en el Viento' bears lyrical textures ordained in an overall jazz-fusion framework. Not unlike 'Caleta Tortel', 'Bajo Pisagua' is majestic and dreamy, and it also features guest violinist Ruz. The album is closed down by 'Lo Que Ha Quedado Es Solo Esto', a mid-tempo that perfectly recreates the sense of farewell and distance that ghosts embrace when thinking of the world that they were forced to leave behind. The sax lines are particularly evocative. "La Isla de los Muertos" is an interactive CD: when you play it on your PC, it displays a series of images and photo from Chile's jungle areas, credits and lyrics, band photos, wallpapers, fauna and nature's sounds,. really lovely. In terms of using rock as an art of eclectic sounds, La Desooorden really went for it with this album. In comparison with the follow-up "Ciudad de Papel", this album's sonic strategy feels less robust, but definitely, richer in subtleties and moods. Both albums are excellent items recommended to those die- hard prog fans with fusion inclinations.

The second La Desooorden effort was enough to lead the band to concerts in various cities around the country, supporting monster names like Los Jaivas and Congreso.In 2004 it was time for the band's third effort: An indepedent release under the title ''La Isla De Los Muertos'', featuring among the known crew also Benjamin Ruz on violins.

To my ears La Desooorden sound much like a modern and Latin version of KING CRIMSON, where complex Rock meets the sensibilities of Spanish language and Latin tunes, with a touch of Post-Rock, RIO and Jazz throughout.The sound is heavily driven by the guitar work of Banda and his ROBERT FRIPP-styled playing with plenty of complex ideas, nervous breaks and evident dissonances.He is strongly supported by the duo of Ruz and mainly Pfeifer, some nice ethereal violins in the start of the album will leave their place to the dominant presence of Pfeifer's sax, which is the reason (along with the drumming of Gonzalez) why the album sounds very jazzy at moments.There are also some instrumental passages with a strong and very somber Ethnic feeling.Another aspect of La Desooorden's sound is the constant use of vocal lines by Fernando Tagore and Karsten Contreras.This is mostly a theatrical performance in singing, with both vocalists alternating between different emotions and lyrical styles, not always on par with the music, still enjoyable and close to the style of FULANO.

This is a good Heavy/Jazz/Prog album, where sometimes music is sacrified in the name of rather excessive vocal moments, but the pleasant moments are more than the mediocre ones.Another recommended album from the ever-growing Chilean modern Progressive Rock scene.