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Entrance — En la Tierra
(Mylodon CD05, 2002, CD)

Entrance — Entrance
(Mylodon CD08, 1999/2003, CD)

by Paul Hightower, Published 2003-08-01

En la Tierra Cover artEntrance Cover art

This has to be one of the only progressive rock bands to come out of Chile, though it seems that the style is sweeping across the entire South American continent these days. Both of these albums appear on the Mylodon label and reveal a band full of promise and talent. The core of the group on both records is guitarist Richard Pilnik and keyboardist Jaime Rosas. The bass, drums, and singer positions change from one album to the other and hopefully the current lineup will provide some stability. Even though they share common influences, Pilnik and Rosas provide a kind of yin and yang for this band. The former plays with loads of metal crunch and zest while the latter wears his Wakeman and prog influences on his sleeves. Rather than a nasty train wreck, the combination works in this case, with comparisons drawn to bands like Arena. The debut album pushes the metal pedal a bit harder than the follow up, aided by singer Claudio Marice’s wailing (all in Spanish) that’s a cross between Kevin Moore and Steve Perry. The best tracks mix metal, prog rock, and symphonic rock along with plenty of solos and displays of seamless unison shredding. Exposé readers will probably prefer En la Tierra, which is on the whole a proggier affair. New singer Jaime Scalpello has a melodic delivery that’s more versatile and easier on the ears, swinging from rock belting to romantic crooning to prog exhortations with ease. The new rhythm section also proves itself up to the challenge, with bassist Rodrigo Godoy especially better worked into the mix than his predecessor. Compositionally, En la Tierra turns the metal down a tick and the prog up a couple of ticks, revealing an increase in confidence and a willingness to let the players step out on their own a bit more. Plus two of the pieces, “Lobo Estepario” and “Bi-Axis,” are treated as multi-part suites though stylistically the material never deviates from the overall umbrella of symphonic prog-metal. Perhaps on future outings we’ll see Pilnik expand his tonal and textural capabilities — I would guess that Rosas could make good use of it. This is a band pointed in the right direction and an easy recommendation to Arena fans.

Filed under: Reissues, Issue 27, 2002 releases, 2003 releases, 1999 recordings

Related artist(s): Jaime Rosas, Entrance

 

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