EL POETA DEL RUIDO

Decibel were one of the best bands that came from my country, sadly as many of them, they no longer exist. Their music is oriented to the avant-garde / RIO side of prog, influenced clearly by Henry Cow among others (and said by Carlos Alvarado, who I spoke to some years ago) and trying to make a stronger progressive rock front in Mexico, along with some other bands such as Nazca or Iconoclasta which were very representative in the 80s.

The band featured excellent musicians who had previous musical experience, all of them trained and very talented, which is why this album sounds so good. Decibel released back in 1978 this album entitled "El Poeta del Ruido" which I dare say was their most successful record, containing more than 36 minutes of excellent, well crafted and intelligent music.

The album kicks off with the title track, which starts with some strange noises for 30 seconds, and later changes into a challenging and outstanding sound very reminiscent to Henry Cow (as I stated above), provoking a nervous feeling, which will later be calmed with a nice transition into a soft mood, the use of wind instruments such as clarinet, along with excellent piano and a precise synth playing, the music becomes totally lovable and in moments hypnotizing, the instrumentation is really good and the pauses they create on purpose complement this extraordinary opener song.

"Orgon Patafisico (parts I and II)", the first part is very short and works as the prelude to the second one, the first, I don't really know, but may have been made just by the synth effects, on maybe they were real percussion instruments. The second part is a longer composition that starts with a spacey mood made by the synth, evoking to some laser rays or a sci-fi movie, along with those effects there are other noises here and there, like a dissonant acoustic guitar sound. This is one of those kind of songs, where you can close your eyes, and let the music transport you to another dimension, awesome.

"Fakma" continues with some spacey sounds, and some weird noises, the soundscapes created are great and the use of some other instruments give this song a dark atmosphere.

"El Fin de los Dodos" is another nervous song, with a dark atmosphere and creating a sound which maintains that spacey mood, but also the RIO avant-gardish theme that shows what this band is capable of.

"Terapia de Fakirato" is a significant change to the music, starting with piano and evoking some contemporary artists such as John Cage, after a minute and a half, the melody changes again into a nervous one, but this time it really is addictive, this is an extraordinary composition that goes from that exquisite piano beginning, to this nervous and addictive moment, the drums are excellent, the use of synth and the effects created give this song a remarkable passage. The structure is the same to the finish but what it is great is the interplay between the instruments and minor changes when a round is finished, excellent song.

The only song that contains some kind of vocals is "Manati", starting with some folkish instruments and spoken word telling a story, the combination of those traditional and folk elements with the synthesizer is delicious. Then the vocals disappear and the noises continue, this is a weird and excellent song.

The album finishes with "El Titosco" which is a short composition that returns to that RIO sound, not the spacey anymore, the chamber rock moments are well placed here in a short but excellent song, a great one to finish this wonderful album.

Overall, an splendid record, one of the best prog album ever released in Mexico (of course, in my opinion) and highly recommendable to anyone who loves the RIO realm. 4 stars.

Enjoy it!

Share this DECIBEL review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to memowakeman
• Report this review (#247201)
• Buy DECIBEL music online with PA partners
• Show all DECIBEL MP3/Stream
• Go to DECIBEL page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to El Poeta Del Ruido page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for DECIBEL related discussions