Customer Reviews

Black Oni

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Not quite sure how I feel about this album. It's a dark, brooding trip, lots of marching drums, alternately hypnotic and mesmerizing keyboards, and monolithic bass lines. The record is really one long suite, the track separations only existing to aid the listener if feeling overwhelmed. Regardless of the meticulous structuring of the piece, it still can't help retaining the feeling of one long, spacey jam. The first few times I listened something felt missing, then I put on headphones and whatever it was was no longer needed. This is a group you listen to attentively, on headphones, preferrably at night/in a dark place. Many reviews have bashed this for being unable to create cohesive melodies and powerful climaxes (a la Godspeed YBE), but this is not what this disk is trying to do. On a careful (headphone-aided, remember) listen, the album obviously avoids the revelatory feeling used on such records in order to create a truly cathartic record. Another thing that so many people miss is the influence beyond minimalism & Magma prog-fusion. There are heavy doses of advanced musique concrete and drone included in krautrock-like sense of experimentalism, but with a much more cohesive sound than kraut jams. This all means that Guapo is just doing their job; everything, from tracks and movements to sounds and music, melds so incredibly well that they are almost indistinguishable. I guess one could almost say that negative reviews are proof that Guapo have mastered their craft, if that craft is depression; after hearing this record, the reviewer is just unable to write anything positive. But maybe that's merely speculation...

This is not your everyday instrumental prog. Frantic and uptempo rhythms are laid out perfectly, often peppered by strange mellotron. And bizarre as the melodies can be, they are somehow memorable, even catchy! There are also some ambient breakdowns and interludes which can at times be downright creepy. Sound interesting to you? It's even more interesting when you listen to it.

One of the very few bands that take on the Soft's/Zeuhl/RIO tradition and do so well. Without being prententious, predictable, overintellectualised or strained they perform some relaxed pieces which often even seems to stretch the format a little bit. This could be developed further. So to reach perfection some more originality would be advised.

a stellar release from this amazing instrumental UK-based band! taking the template of Zeuhl music and adding their own little creepy touches, the results are like a meeting between Goblin and Magma. the relentless rhythms state the purpose with repetition that just seems to build and build as layers are heaped on and pulled away. the drumming is fantastic and keeps the songs grounded in a propulsive style similiar to finnish drone rockers Circle. and the other instruments are great as well...the guitars, mellotron (can't have a proper prog album without a mellotron, now can we?), harmonium, the keyboards! actually, this band got alot better when they added the keyboard player and their albums seem to just get better an better. what's next, then?

From my review first posted on progressiveears. com:
Guapo writes snippets of ideas in parts which are tied together with underlying beats, gong crashes, synth washes or noise. The parts might be melodic or not, loud or soft, or a moving target. Sigur Rós sounds like childish amateurs in comparison. NeBeLNeST offers similar music. There are no vocals, letting the instruments settle in to their parts in the music.

After their NEARfest concert in 2006, Daniel O'Sullivan and Kavus Torabi told me that they intend their music to be ritualistic, that is, used for getting into the mood for something larger and life changing. It really works at that level. In fact, the band roams through the audience during their performance, like ancient shamans looking for the spirit world.
The album is divided into five numbered parts, each a distinct idea.

Part I: After two minutes of machine noise, the music slowly rises in pitch, culminating in a bass driven industrial beat. The music never seems to settle down to rest but is always swirling at the bottom of the glass, waiting for the right moment to rise again. And rise it does, with abandon until a big bass and drum smash calls for the end of this section and the beginning of the next.
Part II: The marching electric piano and snare drum reminiscent of many Magma tunes leads the charge into the fray. Here, the electric piano march is broken off just when it starts to become repetitious and the music fades into guitar parts and then goes back where it came from.
Part III: The busy electric piano once again builds into sections of the music tied together with bass and drums. The bass has the treble turned way up, to become the lead instrument in this section. The electric piano is fuzzed out and trades leads with the bass.
Part IV: With another 2 1/2 minute threshold for an electronic noise introduction, this song percolates along like a Godspeed You! Black Emperor or a dark, moody Robert Reich.
Part V: There is an explosion of bass and drums under the electric piano. Like Anekdoten and 90's King Crimson. A Mellotron joins the melee to darken and make richer. This ends in another bleak march with a snare and a cranky guitar beat.
This is serious, well thought out music that enters and exits at the right times. Songs run between 3 to almost 12 minutes each. At the end, one is not asking for more, but basking in the exhilaration like after surviving a frightening ride at the amusement park.

3 1/2

This suite of epic artsy metal is interesting enough to stand out, brewing up elements found in bands like Battles or Bungle with a post-rock sheen. You've got your climaxes and you've got your lulls, both which display pros and cons the band seemingly exploit. It flows impressively enough, although it replays less so.

How does one describe the music of Guapo? I first became aware of this band when they were trying to put together a U.S. tour and contacted ProgDay about the possibility of playing the festival. We booked them, but then the tour fell through and it did not happen. A year later I finally got to see them at the North East Art Rock Festival and really enjoyed what I heard. This music is very difficult for me to put into words. It is all instrumental and defiantly takes some influence from the Magma / Zuhl / Rio school of prog rock. Yet, this stuff is also quite accessible. I am normally not a huge fan of stuff like this, but for some reason Guapo really works for me. At times it is almost like the soundtrack to a really out there science fiction or horror flick, not that far removed from Goblin or Daemonia. You might even put some of this into the post rock category, although that is not really a perfect fit either. Whatever it is, if you are looking for driving spaced out instrumental rock that is different from just about anything you have ever heard you might want to check these guys out. Everyone will not dig this, but for those who get it, I think you will really like it.