EP

To steal a comparison from Ross Scott, the music of Mexican musician Greco Bastián can best be compared to gold ore: rough and unrefined in its current state but with obvious value and potential gleaming within. As with most of his music, this not-so-imaginatively titled EP was created entirely using a DAW, and the first thing one will notice about it is the production: everything is ridiculously loud; the drums tower over all other instruments in the mix and clip frequently; the samples all mimic real instruments (drum kit, piano, guitar, etc.) but little effort is made to make them sound convincing: they have no natural attack and sustain and no natural dynamics. For what it's worth, the artist has said on his Bandcamp page that he one day plans to make this music "real" as soon as he's able to acquire the funds for it, so his music should thus far really only be seen as a prototype. Nevertheless, this is all there is for the time being.

It's a shame because Bastián is clearly a talented composer, and these three tracks are a fine sampler of the hard-rocking Univers Zero/Present-influenced R.I.O. sound in which he has found his niche. "Extitled" lets the listener know right away that they're in for an intense ride, with its dissonant contrapuntal melodies, odd, constantly changing rhythms and general sense of immediate danger, rather than the looming dread conveyed by bands such as Univers Zero. "Titled" is a sinister ostinato-based waltz that gradually builds up an apocalyptic atmosphere before settling down again near the end, with the actual end of the world following on the final track "Retitled", consisting of a theme that gets continuously varied and deconstructed, resulting in a barrage of relentless math rock riffs. If one can get past the abrasive and slightly amateuristic sound quality, this EP proves to be quite a tasty gold ore nugget.