EL ECO DEL SOL

For some reason Bubu likes to release their albums after everyone, they were late to the scene by releasing their first album in 1978 and now going back to business 10 or 15 years after so many bands have released a comeback album, this is of course not a complaint regarding the high quality of both albums. Anabelas in spite of being released late and coming from south america justifiably gained a classic status and have always been a much appreciated release between prog fans around the world. El Eco Del Sol shouldn't be any different since the band have managed to come up with some excellent material, the sound is different now but you can certainly hear the old Bubu spirit here. As I don't usually go for comeback albums because a lot of them are disappointing this was quite a surprise of how good and powerful it is. An EP titled Resplandor came out of the blue in 2016 and gave us a tease of how the band sounds today, I was immediately impressed of the new music and sound and knew the full album was going to be something special. Unfortunately no one from the original band appear here except for Daniel Andreoli the main composer and visionary, in spite of that the music is still in the same direction, I guess Andreoli's influence is very prominent on the band, one example would be again the use of a choir which works perfectly. By the way all 3 songs from the EP are included here.

Now the biggest difference between the albums is the sound, as Anabelas's sound was dominated and driven by saxophones, flute and violins and by that sounded jazzier, this time guitars, bass and drums come to the fore, making this album to sound much heavier and punchier. Sax, flute and violins are still present throughout the entire album and adds to a well balanced and fuller sound. I'm happy to see Bubu haven't lost their energies on the contrary just check out the album's opener Resplandor, it looks like a lot of aggressions were built inside Mr. Andreoli and had to come out, with less than 4 minutes the band explodes with this bombastic and powerful short progy tune. There's a lot happening here actually, half way through the song changes from a fast rocker to a calm slower atmosphere where the tension slowly begins to build until it breaks again into the original theme, a very promising beginning. Besides of being heavy their symphonic elements are still present with the use of violins which takes a big role in the music, check out Penas, Omer and El Eco del Sol for their outstanding ideas and interesting development. Not only the material is well written the playing is also very good I love the interplay between all instruments, it sounds wonderfull how saxophones, flutes violins and an upfront rhythm section goes together. The performance is tight and every track shows a high level of creativity and mature kind of songwriting.

So fans of the band's debut, although the sound has naturally changed all the main characteristics are still there and in full power. The album also works for anyone looking for contemporary prog due to it's updated and fresh sound. 4 stars.