This group may be new to many of you, yet they join an ever-growing roster of fine progressive acts under the careful banner of the Progressive Gears Records label.
The sound is everything you could want ranging from an almost chilled Pink Floyd vibe through to urgent, frantic riffery and solos with lots of expressive keyboard textures, Anathema are a good comparison in parts as there is a clever balance of power and restraint at play here.
Opener Glow sets the scene well with a moody synthetic opening, growling bass line, power chords and some very acceptable guitar lines. The bass work on this song is fabulous, really anchoring the song yet leaving lots of room for both keyboards and guitar to make their presence known. It’s an accomplished and polished performance with some good vocals from Guillermo Garcia Herreros and some fiery guitar from Andres Jasso. Also worthy of mention is the solid bass of Rodolfo Gonzalez and the strong percussive thrust of Javier Villarreal. After the urgency of the opener, the graceful melodies of Colours Fade Away balance delicate piano lines against a stunning and highly memorable chorus. Stirring stuff indeed, during its latter stages the song evolves further with chunky riffing and driving bass runs before reverting back to the fabulous chorus. It’s an impressive song and a great solo from Andres brings the song to a fine finale.
Blackstar follows and this one has dynamics galore running throughout, making a fine impression. There’s a good use of keyboards here that draws the song onwards to a soaring guitar section from Andres which is accompanied by impassioned vocal from Guillermo. This all leads to a very ‘Gilmourish’ solo with lots of atmosphere and tone. Again this piece really impresses highly, it is a splendid piece of music that deserves a far wider audience than it will probably receive, such are the problems of getting prog fans to accept and acquire new music. It is such a pity when the music this outfit offer is so exceptionally fine and warrants a wider reach and awareness. Gemini is a shorter track, yet still crammed full of great touches and builds well with the guitar taking a leading role. There are remarkably interesting lyrics too and great sounds from the keyboards, in fact I detect shades of Marillion ‘Brave’ era in the sound, again it is exceptionally fine and impressive playing.
In Through The Light has a very retro style and dynamics balancing the past and the present to favourable effect again. Great guitar sound and use of effects make this song surge well and then the keyboards return the song to more moody atmospherics. Walking Ghost is a far quieter song but one that still has fabulous dynamics along with a great running bass line. As the song builds in intensity and depth you are poised waiting for the moment when everything comes to life, which it does at the two minute, thirty second mark with a glorious chorus and melodies and a great emotional guitar break. The track continues to surge and build like a hill climber reaching another peak before the summit, glorious stuff.
Penultimate track Stop…Wait and Transcend has a fabulous mix of light and shade and I detect some Simple Minds type dynamics at play here as the sound is very reminiscent of their late 1980s output, I mean that as a compliment! There’s more great bass work on offer here, the keyboard work is evocative and works well in tandem with the great guitar sound. The song is a bit of a slow burner but eventually it reaches a peak at the five minute mark and ends on a suitably dynamic point. Which leaves the final track Supernova to draw things to a close. This is another slow burner of a song, medium paced, and one that allows room for expression. As it gathers momentum it reveals itself to be a fine rocker of a song and a fine closer to what is a fine album from Mexico’s Electro Compulsive Therapy.
I really enjoyed this CD and find much to appreciate and to enjoy within its grooves. This is an album of many colours and textures and is one that will grow in stature as you embrace all the wonders that it offers. It is finely crafted and well produced, the music is strong, the melodies equally so. The artwork itself is sublime and, overall, I think this debut bodes very well for the future, surely bigger stages await these guys, well they certainly deserve so in my opinion at least. This is one of the better of 2022 so far and one that should appeal to fans of bands like Porcupine Tree or Anathema as it contains some stirring music within its fifty three minute playing time and that graceful guitar playing of Andres Jasso is, for me, the icing on a very good cake.
Released March 18th, 2022.
Order from Progressive Gears Records here:
Electro Compulsive Therapy | Electro Compulsive Therapy | Progressive Gears (bandcamp.com)