NOTHING TO SAY

Influenced by kraut-rock and space-rock, by psychedelic-rock and freak-out jams, Serpentina Satelite, despite the name of this release, have a lot to "say". Carving their way in a musical world defined by freedom to play whatever you want, however you like it, this Peruvian quintet (originally a quartet) is trying to make their presence noticeable and with this album, they may just do that. Taking their time to develop themes, they create magical soundscapes filled with mystery and spellbinding beauty.

Pink Floyd-ian panorama peers through the drumming and guitar effects of the opening track Nueva Ola, as mystifying voices (in Spanish) cut through the musical canvas enveloping the listener. A penetrating guitar riff blazes the ear drum of the second track, Nothing To Say, which surprisingly has lyrics. The drums then join in introducing a dynamic and fast pace and it seems the band has quite a lot to say as the voice of Flavio Castillejos narrates on every once in a while. This is quite a ferocious atmosphere and sound that the band creates here. Repetitive and powerful, it doesn't cease and would be too much if it weren't for the guitar producing weird effects as the music goes on. The drums do let go at around four minutes in, but the guitar madness goes on until the drumming resumes about a minute and half later, thus creating a much needed interlude. The whole track has an hypnotic effect (much like the rest of the album) despite its fast pace and high dynamics or actually because of them going on relentlessly. The Last Drop opens at a mid tempo pace, sounding like a psychedelic jam occasionally joined by (this time) English spoken words. Again the repetitiveness is at the heart of the music, trying to achieve a hypnotic effect and successfully so. As this track is rather short, the result is quite mesmerizing. Madripoor sounds heavier than the previous tracks to some extent (as is The Last Drop but lesser so). The effects in the background, which are well done, should have been mixed louder to achieve a better effect. This is a great freak-out piece, heavy and crunchy. As if a late 60's band time traveled to our days and got to use a modern day recording studio, resulting in this fresh sounding piece of psychedelic heavy rock. Finally we come to the epic track Kommune 1. It sounds like a live recording of the band with its dirty sounding production, as if they're playing outdoor. I guess this is done to create and preserve the same spirit of the bands and sounds that influenced them. The freak-out level here is high, with great energy, passion and intensity. The dynamics and volume go up and down as they shift back and forth between controlled madness and abstract interludes. This is a wonderful piece to listen to late at night potentially as a hallucinations inducer.

There's not much new in this album, but it is fun and enjoyable. It's also quite diverse; not all the tracks sound the same and they seem to lean towards various directions, as one can gather from the descriptions above (I hope). A fine release, especially recommended to those into jams and freak-out psychedelic rock.

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