UN MANUAL DE SIGNOS Y SÍNTOMAS

Formed in the city of Alicante, Spain, the power trio VIENTOS MODERADOS DEL ESTE (Moderate Winds Of The East) began in 2022 after the end of two other very different bands. Bassist Paco Esclapés and drummer César Espí had been playing together in the power pop band Madre Máquina while guitarist Pablo Mateo was part of a thrash metal band called Nebulosis. All three were looking to blend their respective styles into a new progressive sound that added all kinds of influences ranging from the world of jazz and electronica to heavier rock and blues.

The band's first effort UN MANUAL DE SIGNOS Y SÍNTOMAS (A Manual Of Signs And Symptoms) debuts in 2024 with a collection of seven tracks which add up to about 53 minutes of playing time. While sung entirely in the Spanish language, the album lives up to its title which offers lyrics about people who have done or about to do something that will the course of their life in a very negative way. The band claims to exercise a true musical freedom but in reality the instrumentation is quite limiting with only highly distorted guitar parts, a distinct bass sound and drums. Keyboards and piano are also used but not as fequently. The freedom does emerge in how it's all put together in unique ways.

There is definitely a unique tension between the two members who played power pop and the thrash metal connections. While the compositions are based on catchy hooks with guitar tones and riffs reminding me somewhat of 90s Weezer the drive can sometimes add a bit of metal heft to it however when it comes to the keyboards perhaps other 70s acts like Big Star or The Cars come to mind. Despite the Anglo influences though there is a distinct Spanish sound to the album beginning with the flamenco percussion on the heavy hitting opener "La Familia" which showcases the band's most energetic drive which is contracted by slower more contemplative tracks such as "Proxémica. Partes 1-3" which feature catchy piano parts and a jazzy rock Steely Dan vibe but the track does get down and dirty as it proceeds.

The best title of the album belongs to "La tarde en que Nietzsche pegó a Platón con el Mechero de Jim Morrison" which translates as "The Afternoon That Nietzsche Hit Plato With Jim Morrison's Lighter." As the shortest track it also features the strongest power pop influences with a bouncy guitar / bass / drum wallop and however other than a nice progression of varying motifs the track doesn't come off as zany as the title suggests! The true prize of the album comes with the closing "Vasilisa y la Bruja" which at 16 minutes and 25 seconds has plenty of time to unfold from a folky acoustic beginning to a melodic heavy rocker taking liberties and excreting the pronounced freedom the band is so proud to call their own. This track was inspired by the Russian tale Vasilisa."

Overall UN MANUAL DE SIGNOS Y SÍNTOMAS is a strong palatable debut with excellent tracks that deliver strong hooks, crafty prog leanings and nods to various 70s acts ranging from the Canterbury jazz sounds of Caravan, the heaviness of King Crimson and the pop sensibilities of bands like Supertramp and other progressive pop acts of the day. While the basic tones and timbres are fairly uniform throughout the album's run, the band does deliver some nice diverse moments from track to track and finds that cozy middle ground between heavy prog, hard rock, piano rock and Spanish folk music. It's a fairly unique album in the way the band puts it altogether and a very good start.

An amazing debut album!

Music is a blessing, what would we do without it? And just like art, it is infinite and comes from all the parts of the globe, like this amazing project named Vientos Moderados del Este, a trio of quite talented musicians from Alicante, Spain, who have released their debut album entitled 'Un Manual de Signos y Síntomas'. It is comprised of seven compositions that make a total time of 53 minutes.

It kicks-off with 'La Familia' and woah, since the very first seconds they totally caught my attention, a rhythm that reminded me a bit of some old 70s acts from Latinamerica, blended with the very Spanish clapping, so they let us know they might take all the sounds they can from all the influences they love. The vocal game is great, I love the different colors and what they can produce; but also the bass lines are addictive, the drums mesmerizing, the guitars persuasive. Fine and quite creative prog rock full of changes in tempo and humor, a great and solid introduction to Vientos Moderados del Este's sound.

'No Habrá Paz Para los Vencidos' has a noisy 30-second introduction and later the music starts to being developed, there is a bit of Sui Generis, and also a bit of Primus, and also a bit of King Crimson, and also a bit of XTC, and also a bit of Goblin, haha. Sounds interesting, no? It totally is! And I am really happy to be reviewing this, because since the first time I listened to this album I felt quite pleased by the band's creativity and their challenging sound, because there is not a single boring second, they are always changing, creating and recreating, they are great as individual performers, but the three together create an amazing amalgam that can only produce positive results.

A thing I love is that the band decided to write and sing in Spanish, and I am not saying it because that's the language I speak, but because it is a way of keeping alive such a complex, delicious, motley language, and also because I always support bands defending their own words, before trying to get a spot in the market by choosing the popular English language (a language I also love and appreciate, by the way. So after this out-of-context paragraph, I continue with the review, now with 'Proxémica: partes 1-3', which is an adventurous instrumental chapter, where Cesar Espí on drums and keys, Pablo Mateo on guitar and Paco Esclapés on bass offer a masterclass of mutual understanding where it is evident they like what they play, the vibes are spread and we, as listeners take them with open arms.

'El discurso de despedida' has a catchier sound, with quite interesting lyrics that are (at least to me) easy to remember and sing. Soft rhythm that takes some 70s and 80s essence, with great keyboard and guitar solos, each one of them creating a diversity of textures and atmospheres that also produce different emotions. When César Espí introduced me to this album, he mentioned something I totally agree about their sound: "we place everything (the sounds) in a blenderand take whatever it delivers, without thinking about anything", and yeah, that is why we find quite a lot of sounds, musical genres, influences and references.

Talking about references and influences, and also with a bit of humor, they bring a song with a long title of 'La tarde en que Nietzsche pegó a Platón con el Mechero de Jim Morrison', which takes me once again to some Argentinian lands, in fact, it is quite curious that, to my ears, their sound is closer to some iconic bands from Argentina such as Crucis, Sui Géneris, or La Máquina de Hacer Pájaros, than from other representative acts from Spain. After the third minute the song becomes faster, vertigo is implemented and the ride becomes more adventurous, one can feel it not only with the ears, but also with the body.

'Te Hace Falta un Escarmiento: Partes 1-2' is another great track where the trio show-off their abilities in composition and performance, with another mixture of sounds where pop, rock and prog converge. I like the distribution of the parts with vocals and the instrumental ones, because they are capable of changing shapes and delivering countless figures, nuances, feelings. There is a great guitar solo at miute three, just before the vocals enter once again, in a passage that is more emotional. I think the second part of the song comes after the fourth minute, where it becomes instrumental, sharing sounds from 80s new wave, 90s alt rock, and modern progressive rock.

Oh yeah, and now the mighty 16-minute epic that closes this magnificent album, its title is 'Vasilisa y la Bruja', and as you can imagine judging by its lenght, it is a rollercoaster of sounds, emotions and art. The first minutes are quite nice, soft tempo, easy to dig and enjoy but with a high level of fantasy and creativity which, I believe, was inspired by the story of Vasilisa the Beautiful, but here with a twist. At minute four an instrumental passage appears, gentle to our senses and though the intensity increases, the music is so nice that we can embrace it and feel totally relieved, satisfied. The keyboard, bass and drums work is great, but in this instrumental bridge it is guitar what blew my mind, with an amazing solo which is not necessarilly bombastic, though it shows Mateo's amazing skills. Tension is added at minute ten, some noises here and there, a kind of mini jam and a spacey atmosphere is delivered and then, all of a sudden, at minute 12 a jazzy section starts, letting us know once again, that these guys are able to play anything they desire, their musical knowledge is so vast that I am sure they can surprise themselves first, before surprising us, the listeners. The rockier side returns for the final minutes of this great track, and in a blink of an eye, the 16 minutes finish.

Congratulations to VMdE on this amazing debut album which has to be one of my favorite prog releases from this 2024. I wish you the best and may your music reach more and more ears and souls.

Very interesting and enjoyable stuff from a bunch of retreads from Alicante, Spain who've just started collaborating.

1. "La Familia" (5:54) there is an interesting vibe to this rocker: like a blend of Bent Sather/ MOTORPSYCHO at his most energetic and Norwegian sophisticates, SEVEN IMPALE. I like the vocal sounds issued here: there's something old yet modern to it--like And I love the sound choices for many of the layers of instrument tracks. Great drumming! Definitely a Motorpsycho thing going on here. There's even a little "Free Bird"-like jam passage toward the end to get your blood pumpin'. Awesome! Great start to the album! Definitely a top three song. (9.75/10)

2. "No Habrá Paz para los Vencidos" (6:15) what starts out as a kind of black midi-SEVEN IMPALE-like music for the first three minutes turns Beach Boys, then full-on Surfer Rock, before coming back to a chugging stoner version of Seven Impale at 4:20. Interesting but definitely not my favorite. (8.75/10)

3. "Proxémica. Partes 1-3" (6:04) this one has some hooks! Like the "(Darling) You Send Me" Hawai'ian slide guitar riff in the opening motif. Bass and keyboard roles in this section are awesome--and Pablo Mateo's guitar work as well-- volume controlled and, later, wah-wah and searing distortion! At 3:50 there is an incredible shift beneath one of Pablo's high-flying sustained guitar notes, but this motif is short-lived as at 4:33 there is another shift into a slighly- Latinized motif on which Pablo has at least three tracks delivering key components. Around 5:30 we return to the opening melody for the finish. And did I mention that this is an all instrumental song?! Great song! (9.125/10)

4. "El Discurso de Despedida" (6:19) piano-based for a change--and sung in Spanish--this one sounds like THE ASSOCIATION's "Along Comes Mary"--in many ways! The bounce, the enthusiasm and force behind the singers' vocal, the chord progression, the vitality in the music as a whole. I just wish it wasn't so close to "Mary." But, at the 1:10 mark, almost as if the band had heard my musings, there is a delightful shift into a kind of lounge music instrumental passage--something Brian Auger might have done in his early days--and it's even graced by a pretty solid (and long!) wah-wah lead guitar solo in the third and fourth minutes before a return to the "Along Comes Mary" motif and group vocal delivery right up to the very end. Delightful. (9.125/10)

5. "La tarde en que Nietzsche pegó a Platón con el Mechero de Jim Morrison" (5:25) a song that projects some of the snark of countrymates ZA! as well as the sound and melodic genius of GREGG ALEXANDER (THE NEW RADICALS) (and young TODD RUNDGREN). Great stuff that is fairly simple in its foundation and construction but benefits tremendously by the infusion of a little crazed "youthful" imagination. And, with a title like this, how could they go wrong? Another top three song. (9.25/10)

6. "Te Hace Falta un Escarmiento. Partes 1-2" (6:45) despite the fairly-controlled heavy-ish rock music sound palette, there is definitely a little punk rock spirit blasting through on this one; Vientos Moderados Del Este are definitely kindred spirits to young Todd, young Gregg, and maybe even a bit of young Eric Burdon. Just how do these no-longer young men do it? Perhaps their new union as a band has injected each of the members with a new-found joi de vivre or esprit de jeunesse. Another top three song. (14/15)

7. "Vasilisa y la Bruja" (16:25) a finger-picked acoustic guitar chord opens this one, soon joined by a blues-rock ensemble of instruments and choral-delivered vocals, establishing a kind of slightly-heavier PINK FLOYD pastiche for the first couple minutes. I'm not sure where Part 1 ends as the same two-chord motif continues well into the tenth minute with the first six minutes being centered behind the choral vocals, followed by four minutes support to Pablo Mateo's long and passionate wah-wah guitar solo. At the 10-minute mark there is a slight pause as drummer César Espí introduces the Flintstones-like musíca Cubano tom-tom pattern that dominates the next two minutes. It is a near- droning tom-tom pattern that just as suddenly disappears at the 12-minute mark when there is an immediate shift into a swinging old jazz guitar and piano two-step, which then just as unexpectedly morphs at 13:12 into something anthemic when the boys start blasting out their vocal delivery of "sigues en pie" over a kind of Allman Brothers-ish four-chord vamp over which the choir boys continue belt out their instructions (or plea--I really wish my Spanish were better because I find myself wanting to know what it is their so insistent upon). This is what, then, takes us out--to the end of the song (and album)--with the choir vocals continuing while Pablo injects raw and raunchy guitar riffs beneath and in-between the vocal lines. Musically this is not very sophisticated but the guitar play and totally unexpected and sudden style changes earn points for creative inventiveness. Repeated listens render me more attentive to Pablo Mateo's excellent guitar play but more inured to the rather simplistic music--except for the freaky psychedelia of the eleventh and twelfth minutes: I LOVE that section. I think, overall, this is excellent but not quite worthy of superlatives. Were I attuned to the Spanish lyrics perhaps I could/would value it more. As it is, it feels like a song on a par with some of PINK FLOYD's classic songs that have now become little more than pleasantly numbing background music. (27/30)

Total Time: 53:06

How did this album hide from our attention for six months? (That's the time it took since the album was released [July 25] for it to appear in the ProgArchives top ten.) As other reviewers have said, it is such a delight to stumble upon artists like these who enter the fray with such a fresh and enthusiastic angle on music: here a blend of the 1960s Proto-Prog with a modern swag that comes with youth or a new relationship. But these guys are older: retreads from other bands that have been active since the Naughties. How the heck did they manage to harness and convey such a youthful spirit?

91.58 on the Fishscales = A-/five stars; a minor masterpiece of eclectic progressive rock music that offers a refreshing balm to my despondence over the stagnating state of progressive rock music.