Naranja Mecánica
1993 - 1995

Are you familiar with that strand of science fiction that considers alternative futures of various historical events? The most classic and fascinating example is the novel by the great writer Philip Dick, "The Man in the High Castle," in which he imagines a hypothetical future where Germany and Japan have won World War II and even invaded the United States. At this point, you might be wondering what this delirious preamble has to do with the album in question. The matter is quickly clarified as listening to Naranja Mecánica made me wonder what kind of music Ánglagård could have produced if they had been born in the hot island of Cuba instead of cold Sweden. If any of you have already jumped out of your chair (which often happens when the aforementioned Swedish band is mentioned), I invite you to stay calm as it's important to say right away that this is not a clone band, and the differences between the two bands are as numerous as the similarities.

Starting with the latter, we can say that the Cuban Naranja Mecánica, like their Scandinavian colleagues, create works of great complexity (albeit of limited duration) characterized by meticulous attention to arrangements that, therefore, result in extremely intricate and complex passages both in long instrumental sections and when they serve as a "simple" accompaniment to vocal parts (themes chase each other with endless variations, and it is difficult to hear the same passage twice without some modification). Certainly, at times the compositions refer more to Yes than to "King Crimson," the main source of inspiration for Ánglagård, but the way of constructing the pieces is similar in the two bands. Other similarities include the use of acoustic and electric guitars in continual dialogue with each other, an omnipresent and highly inspired flute, a frantic drumming in abundant odd time signatures, and the alternation of calm parts with much more frenetic ones.

Moving on to the differences, what mainly stands out is the overall atmosphere of the compositions: the coldness, the melancholy, the sense of claustrophobia that imbue and make the compositions of the Swedish band unique are here replaced by the typical feeling that makes the compositions of many great South American prog bands "light," but not for this reason "lightweight" or artistically less valid (with the Brazilian Sagrado above all). Even regarding the instrumentation used, differences are noted, especially concerning the keyboards: in the Naranja's record, the Mellotron is absent (which so much contributes to making a piece melancholic...) and other analog synths while there is a clear predominance of the piano. A few words, finally, about the vocal parts, the only Achilles' heel for Ánglagård (who indeed decided to remove them in their second CD) and which also for Naranja result in the only weak point, perhaps even more pronounced than for the Swedish band. Alejandro Del Valle and Ernesto Garcia, credited with the vocals, have not been blessed with what could be called a "golden voice" and show all their limits even on melodies that wouldn't require a particular vocal range but just a pleasant timbre.

Despite this small flaw, it is evident that it is a truly high-level CD that I cannot help but strongly recommend to all enthusiasts, especially those drawn to progressive rock produced in countries somewhat outside the usual "canon." The Cuban prog scene is certainly not very flourishing, but among these Naranja Mecánica and their compatriots Sintesis, it certainly includes two bands of extremely high quality (in this regard, I also have to highlight the only, beautiful CD by Sintesis, "En Busca De Una Nueva Flor").