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Progressive Rock CD Reviews

Oriana Setz

Metamorfosis

Review by Gary Hill

This is quite an effective and entertaining set. I have put this under progressive rock, but I'm sure some will argue with that. The mix of sounds, jazz, world and rock might qualify it by itself. The fact that there is a real progressive rock edge in most of the songs seals the deal, though. Half the lyrics are in Spanish and half are in English. The vocals are potent, and the set works well from start to finish.

This review is available in book (paperback and hardcover) in Music Street Journal: 2020  Volume 2. More information and purchase links can be found at: garyhillauthor.com/Music-Street-Journal-2020.

Track by Track Review
Pastel Lilac
Gentle acoustic guitar with non-lyrical vocals brings this into being. The track evolves into a balladic movement that has some soulful texture in it along with an almost folk-prog vibe. There are jazzy things in the vocal arrangement, too. It gets more powered up and energetic as it continues. It gets quite driving, but in a melodic, pop meets prog way before it's over.
Tres Paredes y un Grito
Jazz, melodic rock, pop music and prog all seem to be present in the mix here. This number has a mid-tempo pace and a lot of soaring energy built into it. As you might guess from the title, the lyrics are in Spanish. The cut is so cool, and has a bit of a dropped back movement that makes good use of classical strings. While it's relatively dropped back, it's nowhere near sedate or balladic in that section.
Amores Invisibles
Starting on acoustic guitar, this is another track with Spanish lyrics. It has a lot more proggy elements in the mix. There is plenty of jazz here, too. I love the multiple layers of vocals. The balance between slower, mellower sounds and more powered up soaring ones is great, too. This is one of my favorites tunes on the set. It's so powerful. The horns add a lot of magic to it.
Pendulum Effect

There is a lot of cafe music texture to this. The cut is bouncy and fun. It has lyrics in English. It's the least proggy thing here, but it has a great jazz meets world music texture to it. It's an entertaining piece.

Pieza Perdida
Back into the Spanish zone, this is another energized cut. That said, there is a mellower dropped back movement. It has some of the most Latin-sounding music of the set. That sedate portion of the piece has some dreamy prog elements, but the rest is less proggy than some of the other pieces. As it comes out of that drop-back to take the piece out, it has some pop rock meets prog stylings built into it.
Metamorfosis
Mellow picked acoustic guitar brings this into being. As the arrangement fills out just a bit it has a world music vibe. The vocals come in as we're back to just a guitar back drop. This is pretty and rather haunting in style and tone. More of a balladic piece,
A Little Bit Blinder
The closer is decidedly prog rock based. The lyrics are in English, the cut is powerful and rocking, but also manages to drop back for mellower moments. The horns bring some serious jazz elements to the table, too. This makes a great closer.
 
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