Onrico is another group who wear their hearts on their sleeves, and it’s hard to believe that this is their debut, and one that is sure to impress nostalgists for the halcyon days of progressive rock, Having said that Onrico, essentially a duo, do put their unique mark on prog rock by the inclusion of bassoonist Luis Querales. Indeed, there are two solos on the opening progressive powerhouse that is ‘The Beginning’, one by guitarist Jorge Ostos and one by, you guessed it, the bassoonist! Spock’s Beard (and back) seems to be the main influence here, while ‘House of Mirrors’ is more like Gentle Giant with barbershop close vocal harmonies and prominent organ and bass. By contrast the 13:50 of ‘Inner Walls’ is more King Crimson with a dazzling guitar run, to begin with that is; there’s plenty of space for stylistic variations that include a synth solo and some plaintive piano courtesy of Benjamín Hernández. There’s another bassoon break on ‘Falling Asleep’ while the 11-minute long ‘Ex-nihilo’ shows a metallic prog side to Onrico’s music, with a nice guitar question and answer thrown in (Wassim Rahmani is a guest guitarist on this number). As you might imagine 15-minute closer ‘Redemption’ provides a showcase for the full extent of the lyrical and musical complexity of an assured concept album about a man navigating different stages of his life, his internal struggles and existential questions, and eventually finding redemption. Highly recommended.
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