PERSONA

Persona, the third release by Alejandro Matos, is an album combining heavy rock with an exotic approach. Despite being a multi-instrumentalist, Alejandro's preferred pick seems to be the guitar, being the one instrument that drives the album the most. Among other instruments are most notably the synths, which seem to take a more laid-back part on this album than the future release, Freak; frequent use of powerful organs; and often strong and relentless basslines.

The musical styles of the different songs on persona is quite broad, with for instance "Dos Mil Anos De Tierra" being a fierce and heavy rock track, featuring powerful drums and and melancholic arpeggios; the much more accesible and groovy "La Plaza Equivocoda"; and the symphonic main theme of "Dos Mil Anos Menos". The musicianship is great, though in particular the drums sound somewhat stiff. Notable are the vocals, which are sung by Alejandro in his native language. The vocals often are very clear and perhaps therefore dominant, though they leave plenty of space for the instruments. Although the album combines several different musical styles, the overall mood is quite heavy and melancholic (and sometimes even bordering mild forms of progressive metal) with its powerful riffs.

In the end, Persona is a really good release, having a dynamic flow more so than the following album. Still, I don't feel that it's good for 4 stars quite yet. If I could, I would rate it 3 and a half stars, but since that option isn't available, I'll round it down to 3 stars.