Rockshots 2017
Dodecaedro
Multifaceted fusion out of Mexico finds a firm footing in a non-Platonic solidity.
Three years in the making, and marking the route to realization by three singles that land here, this quartet’s second album offers a lot in terms of texture but it doesn’t dwell on humor which has become the order of the day for bands who bring out heaviness in jazz rock. From majestic shamanism shooting through “Babel” where hefty riffs are a mere canvas for guitar embroidery, to the title track’s tumultuous sway, there’s emotional angle to every technical detail, so if “Fu” is frantic and fierce in its swirl, small pieces interspersing seriously rumbling numbers serve as elegiac respite in the overall instrumental storm, although the likes of “Humedo” hold more progressive promise than lesser artists’ longer compositions.
Yet even when Benjamin Berthier and Pablo Berthier’s six strings stage an epic performance on “Inside The Whale” – moving from melody to melody in a breathtaking motion – the monumentality of it all is tempered with barely-there but essential undercurrents that create additional patterns in a great scheme of tunes. Such a scheme can even welcome some swing and slider roll, as it does on “Detritus” thanks to Edgar Garduño’s drums locking in with Michel Villamor’s bass, so it seems there’s no limit to the group’s romantic extravaganza, and if Mexico wasn’t on a fusion map until now, it’s time to correct our bearings.
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