Detailed Reviews [Metconciencia - 2003 - "Bestiario"]

Prolusion. "Bestiario" is the debut album by the Mexican band Metaconciencia.

Synopsis. The 61-minute "Bestiario" is an all-instrumental album consisting of nine compositions of a different duration. The music presented here is quite intensive and is for the most part based on the constantly developing interplay between solos of electric guitar and bass and passages and solos of acoustic guitar, all of which is accompanied by quite an extraordinary drumming. Most of the varied rhythmic measures that the band work with throughout the album are not simply odd, but are very well thought-out, inventive, and unique. Surprisingly, the album is stylistically quite diverse, which is despite the fact that all of the compositions on it, without exception, have at least a slight classical feel to them. A highly original acoustically electric guitar-based Art-Rock is the predominant stylistics of "Bestiario", even though in the pure form, it is presented only on the closing track of the album: Antarctica. A guitar Art-Rock is enriched with elements of Prog-Metal on the first three tracks here: Garhi, Alh, and Paradigma, and with those of Jazz-Fusion on both of the follow-up pieces: Eniac and Improv. Pendulo (4) features only solos of acoustic guitar and passages of semi-acoustic guitar, and yet, it's hard to regard it differently than a piece of Classical Music. Closer to the end of the album, the acoustic guitar player Ricardo Moreno has unexpectedly turned into keyboardist masterfully handling the Hammond organ and a string ensemble on Bestiario and 1899 (7 & 8) respectively. The style of the album's title track is a hard-edged, truly classic Symphonic Art-Rock, and 1899 is about Prog-Metal with elements of Symphonic Art-Rock.

Conclusion. Starting with the early creation of Rush, a guitar-based Art-Rock has quickly obtained a broad expansion in the world of progressive music and was developed by many bands, among which Djam Karet are probably the most renowned. Well, I only want to say in conclusion that I find Metaconciencia's "Bestiario" better than any of the Djam Karet albums that I've heard, and I've heard most of them.

VM: June 9, 2003