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Artefactron — Artefactron
(Azafrán Media no#, 2022, CD)

by Peter Thelen, Published 2022-03-22

Artefactron Cover art

Artefactron is a new progressive rock band from Mexico, and the album reviewed here is in fact their debut effort, though one might suspect after the first listen that these are some seasoned veterans from the 70s or 80s; in fact they have only been together for a few short years. The band members are Axel Margalli (guitars and vocals), Eduardo Garcia (keyboards and backing vocals), Hector Aveleyra (keyboards, guitars, and vocals), Alvaro Zenil (bass and lead vocal), and Mauricio Gonzalez on drums and vocals. They are more reminiscent of the great Italian bands of decades-gone-by than they are of the Genesis and neo-prog styles in their wake. There is an abundance of rich, splendid vocals and harmonies throughout, in this case all sung in their native Spanish. Add to that plenty of instrumental fire, soaring guitar solos, and incisive keyboard power over the hard driving complexity of the rhythm section that underscores the richness of the voices. Opener “Tiempo y Espacio,” at roughly eight minutes, is a declaratory statement about everything that is great about the band — beginning with the vocals and the harmonies, leading to a powerful instrumental break led by synths at around the two minute mark, with some powerful guitar soloimg falling in right behind that. “Nave al Infinito” follows after, a bit darker overall and dominated by solo voice, but no less complex and interesting than its predecessor. While starting as a jazzy mini-epic, “Doble Proposito” is one of the album’s pure instrumentals, quickly finding its way back to proggy-prog territory over its near five minute duration. And what progressive rock album would be complete without an album-side length piece, and appropriately as the album closer at close to nineteen minutes we have “Hijo Prodigo,” an epic with plenty of room for every band member to shine brightly. Seven tracks in all, two instrumentals and five vocal tunes, and a powerful opening statement by one of the finest prog bands to come out of Mexico in many years.

Filed under: New releases, 2022 releases

Related artist(s): Artefactron

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http://artefactron.com

 

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