Review Summary: Melancholic Rage!
For a few years I've been listening to amazing bands from Chile and just the other day I found BAIKONUR, a Post-Rock band from Santiago that just a couple years ago got together and is rapidly becoming one of the best new bands from their country gaining also attention from people all over the world.
In ¿QUIÉN VIGILA AL HOMBRE CANSADO?, their first album, we can listen to dinamic, brilliant and clean songs. One important property in Baikonur´s music is that it is very easy to listen to because even in the heaviest parts of the songs the noise is mild. They dont úse a lot of distortions or extremely processed sounds. So the music gets to be loud but as all the notes are clearly played we can enjoy the whole layers of the songs.
QVAHC is pretty basic but there is not a single second where we feel like we are listening to the classic Post-Rock album. BAIKONUR uses a melancholic sound that makes them be different from other projects. This melancholy is present in CUESTIONES POSITIVAS, first song of the album, that begins with a "sobbing" guitar while a recording of Don Francisco talking about Trash metal with a Necrosis' member flows with the music. As Don Francisco's voice gets distorted and starts to fade the guitarist rises progressively the volume until it matches the agressive drums and turn the melancholy into desperation. By the end of the song this agressiveness disappear and beins CAPRILE, the happiest song in the album. Its vivid rythm accelerates our hearts and makes us dance, in this moment and having listened just two songs we realize that BAIKONUR has too much to offer.
6025 DÍAS SIN LUZ, is the third song and as we listen to the peculiar guitar effect we can feel the melancholy come back. In this song the guitar is soft, surrounds the drums and together flow softly even when in the middle of the song a progressive change turns the rythm in a roar that with some restraint fills the room. As fourth track we have PUNTO JONBAR which has a relaxing melody. The calm we feel while listening to it gets to the point where we enter the expressiveness of the song. We can feel its agony and loneliness.
BAIKONUR reaches its fullest musical potential in AUGURI, song that as the others starts with a cadenced melody but it is not limited as before, the energy flows without restriction and all the instruments get involved in the creation of the passion that distinguishes this song. Then, we listen that while bass and drums merge into a dark environment, the guitars provide a bright and daring dye to this piece.
The final part of this album is really emotive, while HARRY HELLER is playing we can't stop thinking about the happiest moments of our lifes, melancholy at its fullest. This sonorous oasis takes us to our childhood, to our grandparent's house, to the green fields where we used to play. Honestly, it is the most beautiful melody i've ever heard in many years. And right when our existence is full of happiness a crescendo brings us back to our reality, just to take us to the final track POLITICAS DE ESTADO, epilogue where BAIKONUR throught an extract of a speach by a Werken Mapuche to express a political feeling that is characteristic of chilean people. And with this, it ends, leaving us wanting more from this great chilean band that I think will be recognized soon in the whole world.
Please take some time to listen and download ¿QUIEN VIGILA AL HOMBRE CANSADO? in: http://baikonur.bandcamp.com/
Gracias...
