ICONOCLASTA

I am rather surprised by this band. Finding out Mexico did have a prog scene, I was a bit hesitant. I thought maybe ICONOCLASTA would mix mariachi with prog. Luckily they didn't and instead went for a '70s prog sound that brings to mind some of the Italian bands. Although their debut was recorded and released in 1983, you'd swear this was from the mid '70s. Here, the band features two guitarists, in the names of Ricardo Moreno and Ricardo Ortegon, with Nohemi D'Rubin on bass, Rosa Moreno (sister of Ricardo) on keyboards (which included lots of string synths, a Wurlitzer electric piano, and apparently an ARP 2600), and Victor Baldovinos on drums.

Given this is from Mexico, the production of the album isn't that great, and often comes across as sloppy. The album opens with "Cuentos de Arquicia", which features some excellent guitar playing and nice themes. "Dorian" tends to be a bit on the jazzy side with electric piano. "Manantial" is one of my favorites here. I especially like the use of '70s string synths here, pretty nice, atmospheric piece that makes me glad a band from the '80s knew about. "Memorias de un Hechiero" starts off sounding like "Il Banchetto" from PFM's "Per Un Amico", it's probably no coincidence that this band had that album in their collection. It then starts getting a bit more jazzy as it progressses. "Estudio VI" starts off with classical guitar, which gives a Spanish/Mexican feel to it, before the band starts kicking in and doing the prog they they're known for. The last piece, "Fuere da Casa" is perhaps the album's high points, going for a more epic composition. The ARP 2600 (or something that sounds like it) pops up, and a female voice pops up as well, which really blew me away.

Unfortunately this album gets weighed down by excess baggage at times, some of the music tends to drag on longer than need be, so I don't exactly call this album essential, but still worth having.