Review Summary: An unusually diverse but fully-realized piece of music, one of the overlooked gems of 2015.
Most artists can be classified relatively easily into one genre or another. Indeed, many artists who do attempt to combine different genres, or even to transcend genre altogether, are unsuccessful, either simply unable to effectively fuse distinct musical forms, or are popularly viewed as a gimmick. However, there are a few special artists that manage to create exceptional music through the influence of many genres. Chilean group Nubosidad Parcial belongs to this rare category. In the course of six songs on their debut release Fractal, the band manages to incorporate stoner rock, post-rock, metal, and reggae into a surprisingly-cohesive psychedelic sound.
The initial track, “Fractales”, is by far the longest on the album, and certainly sets the tone well for the entire release. Beginning with several minutes of spacey post-rock, the opener eventually explodes into a vaguely stoner-metallish section, before the outro comprises space rock somewhat reminiscent of Pink Floyd. This abundance of different styles flowing together well is fortunately representative of the album as a whole, even if no other tracks manage to quite reach the epic nature of the opener. The album’s second song, “Quebrada” mixes heavy stoner riffs with a quiet middle section including spoken-word vocals. Meanwhile, “Caleudoscopio I” is a pure psychedelic jam. “Trascender” starts off in reggae-influenced manner before emerging into heavy post-rock backed by soaring wordless vocals. The brief “Caleudoscopio II” solely consists of shrieking guitars producing an unsettling vibe, and leads into the closing track “Respiro”. That song ends the album fittingly, with perhaps the most upbeat segment of the record. The very metallic riffs in the middle section of the closing track are one of Fractal’s greatest moments, and thus leave the listener with a particularly positive impression. Fractal is primarily an instrumental release, but vocals are featured on occasion. In some cases, the vocals are of the ordinary singing variety, but choir-like sounds are also utilized multiple times to great effect. While lyrics are few and far between, those that do appear are entirely in Spanish.
Besides the great diversity of influences which Nubosidad Parcial incorporates into this album, the key strength of Fractal is its powerful mood. This is reflective of the album artwork: dark, gloomy, and vaguely nightmarish. The beginning section of “Respiro”, with its series of sinister mechanical noises and a dog barking, adds to this ambience. Most parts of the record seem to adhere to this depressive vibe, even the reggae elements in “Trascender” seem somewhat ominous within their context, far removed from the usually sunny nature of that genre. The impressive ability of Fractal to evoke a significant mood goes a long way in unifying the album’s distinct parts into a cohesive whole. The main complaint which may be made about this album is undoubtedly that Nubosidad Parcial has attempted to combine too many ideas into a relatively short release (33 minutes). While some will likely feel this way, it is certainly true that, given the wide range of influences involved, the band did a great job in crafting a listenable and largely integrated album.
All in all, Fractal is borderline-brilliant. By combining the better features of an impressive array of genres, Nubosidad Parcial has created a work which may be of interest to all open-minded listeners, especially those with a taste for psychedelic musical styles. While it is improbable that the band will achieve mainstream success, this exceptional first release has demonstrated that the band may, and should, garner underground acclaim now and in the future.
