RANDOM — Pidanoma (review)

Album · 2014 · Progressive Metal

4/5 · 2014-03-09
UMUR

"Pidanoma" is the 2nd full-length studio album by Argentinian progressive metal act Random (or Los Random as they´ve opted to call themselves on this album). the album was released through Las Tías Records in January 2014. It´s also available for download at a "Name Your Price" tag on the band´s Bandcamp profile. "Pidanoma" features the same three-piece lineup, who recorded the band´s debut full-length studio album "Todo.s los colores del (2011)" and the "Prrimo, the" EP from 2009.

...and it´s obvious that these three guys have played together for a relatively long time now, because the musicianship on "Pidanoma" are absolutely brilliant (not that it wasn´t the case on the two preceeding releases, but this time around Random have outdone themselves). These guys are very talented. Technically skilled but still with a great focus on adventurous and boundary breaking ideas and playing.

Stylistically the music on "Pidanoma" is a bit hard to tag correctly. It´s progressive alright (I guess 3 tracks with a playing time of over 15 minutes each tell that story), but not in the respect that this sounds anything like Dream Theater and their ilk. This is more in the vein of artists like Intronaut or maybe Yakuza, but still with a unique sound of their own. The riffs are heavy and aggressive, the rythm section are busy and the drumming fusion influenced, and the vocals are expressive. Sometimes raw and sometimes more sensitive in nature (sometimes working more as an instrument than regular vocals). It´s only occasionally riff based aggressive music though (actually mostly the opening track "Corto Normal") and the music is predominantly more atmospheric. There is a psychadelic/experimental element to the sound too, which generally works really well for Random. Actually most of the playing time of the three longer tracks on the album is taken up by jamming parts with noisy and experimental guitar sounds and in the case of "Mee Chango" screaming saxophone playing.

All tracks on the album are quite different sounding though. "Corto Normal" and "Mia Gato Está Solo en la Oscuridad" feature most structured riff sections (the latter features around 6 minutes of experimental/ambient guitar nooding towards the end though), "Ojota y Media" is a short track featuring samples and electronic manipulation, "Mee Chango" has some structured parts but features a long jamming section, and the closing 20:53 minutes long "Guri Guri Tres Piñas" features beautiful and mellow guitar playing and subtle rythmic playing before more loud and busy climaxes appear. It´s a very dynamic track that develops quite a bit through it´s playing time.

The sound production is professional, detailed and very well sounding, providing the perfect platform for the tracks to shine. "Pidanoma" is another step in Random´s development of their musical style, and while I personally could have wished for more structured sections and less jamming and slow building post rock/metal parts, the music is so well performed and produced that it´s impossible not to be intrigued. A 4 star (80%) rating is deserved.