Rizoma

"It's been 8 years since Mexican project Luz de Riada released their last album, which was also the end of the 'Cuentos y Fábulas' trilogy; and now in this 2024 after different line-up changes and life challenges, Ramsés Luna, mastermind behind this project, has released an amazing album entitled 'Rizoma', which was possible thanks to his insatiable creativity and, of course, to the great assembly he has created with the awesome Luis Nasser (Sonus Umbra, Might Could) on bass, the great Sergio Aldama (Deuol) on drums, and long-time friend and collaborator Edgar Arrellin on the sound design.

Important to say that this community has further extension to some quite talented musicians as artists who are featured in the album. Tim McCaskey (Sonus Umbra) helps with his work on both acoustic and electric guitar during the whole album, being like an unofficial member of the band. Big names such as Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) or Matias Olsson (Anglagard) provide their drumming work in the first and last track of the album, respectively, and also talented guitar man Enoc Jiménez puts his grain of sand in three tracks. So it is great to see Luz de Riada is not just an ordinary group, but an entity of talented minds in constant movement and change, minds that have always something to say, not only in a specific musical way, but also in an artistic way, so here we can also have hints of poems and vocal freestyle made by María Lucía dal Farra, Armando Palomas and Floriano Martins.

The journey is divided in 10 tracks that make a total time of 55 minutes of an explosive mixture of sounds and emotions. It kicks-off with 'Auromboros', a wonderful song that opens the gates to this current Luz de Riada's realm, where we can find well-crafted compositions, top-notch performances, colorful sounds, mood and rhythm changes, prog rock, jazz fusion, folk, and more. Though we know Luna is the main composer behind this project, it is great to see Nasser was also involved in the composition, and yeah, we can notice his hands on tracks like these, where bass cannot go unnoticed.

'Entropía' was the song they chose as a single, and I think it was a great decision, because when I first listened to it I said to myself "this sounds like a great album is coming". This track starts with vocals, which Luna has used throughout his career as another instrument, they remind me of some zeuhl acts. Then the song embraces a proggy sound which took me to a crimsonian world, a place I am sure the band and we all love. There are moments where Luna's winds take over and shares a diversity of sounds, nuances, and textures, which is great.

A folkish sound made by percussion appears in 'Raíces', letting us know the band can go to different places and explore a diversity of sounds, musical genres and most importantly, cultures. Here I love McCaskey's acoustic guitar work, is so delicate and delicious, and I also love Aldama's drumming, so accurate, so free, so wonderful. 'Atípica' is the longest track of the album, and according to the credits, it was composed by Nasser, and yeah, his bass here is marvelous, he is capable of creating soft and delicate sounds that feel like big hug. Aldama's work here is outstanding once again, but I really love how all the musicians put their grain of sand in equal parts not only in this track, but during the whole album. At half the song a spoken word appears, it is Dal Farra reciting a poem named 'Canción del barco', written by Floriano Martins. Beautiful!

I love the contrasts between songs, now with 'Matanza de chivos' Aldama delights us with an explosive drumming beginning, then after some 40 seconds strings joins and then winds, so they together create an interesting conversation in a prog fusion style. Later at 2:30 the song makes a changes and adds some kind of atmospheric sounds and raw guitars. 'Todos por la banqueta' has a peculiar beginning that I related with samba de roda and capoeira, later it vanishes and morphs into a complex track where each member plays something quite different from each other, but they manage to fit in, so the track represents their creativity and their union. Here we can also appreciate Armando Palomas featuring with his voice, creating freestyle, in a great trip to our Latinamerican cultures.

'La bestia' comes with some dark atmospheres that later turn into bright fusion colors, it has some crimsonian nuances again, and a wonderful contrast within, because we can hear to explosive rock sounds, but there is a delicious and delicate atmospheric passage where we can close our eyes and imagine things, it is very visual, indeed. 'La danza del tlacololero' has a delicate start that sounds like a score for a silent film, after a minute bass and drums create a kind of afro-latin rhythm in which one cannot help but moving and shaking, it invites us to dance. Then guitars (acoustic and electric) interplay, and a new structure begins to be built up. Luna makes magic with his electronic wind devices, he can hypnotize us and take us to another galaxy. 

'Ñuñoa' has a folk essence and sounds like an introspective track to me. The musicians create beautiful sounds that transmit peace, it is like a healing ritual which of course, has different phases, so its first half is like that inner work, but the second half becomes more intense, so its now the outside work. The album finishes with 'Mil Novecientos Quince' which is a hell of an epilogue, a magnificent track that shares power, intensity, and freedom. I love its bombastic start, it sounds epic and it is impossible not to get excited about it. This song is a living proof of how creative these guys are, and confirms the importance that breaking boundaries when it comes to music composition, will provide satisfying results.

Congrats to Luz de Riada for this extraordinary comeback!" - ProgArchives