ENJAMBRE SISMICO

Chile has been a great place for new prog rock in recent years, and Abrete Gandul is another band from the South American region that I have found myself really enjoying over the past while. Here is an exciting prog fusion band that feeds on dynamic and jazzy overtones for lunch, breakfast, and midnight snack. Their third album 'Enjambre Sismico' shows this group at what may be their best yet, an ever-changing flow of music that will keep the listener engaged throughout. I have never considered myself to be a fan of this particular style of music, but Abrete Gandul has found themselves a new fan.

This music is entirely instrumental, with the band instead letting their instruments do all of the talking. In a way, this lets the band say alot more with their music, freed of the constraints of having to write in parts for singers to shine in. Throughout this album, there are plenty of recognizable hooks, but the main attraction is simply the way that the musicians play. Each member from the saxophonist to guitarist and especially the beautifully intricate drum work are all done incredibly. To make it better, 'Enjambre Sismico' has a very organic sense of production to it. Although the sound is not always totally clear, there is quite a bit of feeling here; I get the impression of a rainforest on a sunny morning after a storm; there's mud everywhere, but it's rather beautiful.

The songwriting here takes several listens to get into and make memorable, but there are certainly hooks in the music, and this is something that I often found lacking in the prog fusion style of music. '...Y Ahora Que?' is a great example of this, managing to form a very charming lick around a schizophrenic and odd time signature. The band plays together wonderfully, with musicians bouncing their performance off of one another. Sonically, my favourite parts of this music are the drums (played here by Antonio Arceu) and the jazzy explorations of the saxophones. The solos sometimes ramble on a bit, but there is still that sense that this has all been thought out. One thing I could never criticize Abrete Gandul for is staying in one place for too long; this is a band that keeps moving along in their ideas. Even in the improvisations, I was hearing hooks that kept popping up, and it kept things interesting. This is easily the best prog fusion album I have heard thus far in the year; Abrete Gandul are a band to look out for.

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