Creative Commons 2017
Going for cosmic wonders in order to conquer chaos, Catalan trio refine their flight formula on an album number seven.
The constantly changing line-up of this ensemble can point to leader Jonah A. Luke’s restless progression, yet such a pattern allows him to streamline the collective’s fantastic concept. It’s always been based around spaced-out aspirations, and “Sci-Fox” finally gets the “good-vs-evil” message across in a most explicit way, the titular two-part epic – split between the beginning and the end – building a celestial structure out of ice-cold riffs and lava-hot solos that spring from Luke’s guitar and soar to set an interstellar course.
If there’s a military march beyond the event horizon, the band’s belligerence wouldn’t be pacified with the rippling “Andromeda Blues” which is picked up by antenna from the "Radio Cincinnati" ether, while the hint of reggae in the raging heart of “La Ciencia de la ConfusiĆ³n” does exactly that, thanks to the piece’s orchestral scope where ivories and vocal harmonies win the day. Still, it’s the terror of turmoil that drives the infectious drama of “Mephistopheles” to heavy desperation, although this underworld anthem is also highly spirited, what with piano and organ fleshing out the cut’s lyrical sharpness, and “Tierra Ni Hogar” will see the militant stomp return in the crosshairs of incessant throb that runs from despondent to gleeful.
Here’s a truly elevating experience, ordered by the synthesizer’s sweet swirl in the title track’s closing section, so the 2009’s “Cada MiĆ©rcoles” – added to the record’s CD version as a bonus, to demonstrate the group’s progress from purveyors of classic hard rock to the merchants of artful wisdom – can’t wind down the “Sci-Fox” excitement. The Barcelona band arrived at the pinnacle of their trip.
****1/2