"My intention is not to dilute or steal flamenco, but to pay it tribute, and open the minds of others to its richness, while simultaneously staying true to my metal roots."
-Benjamin Woods
Every so often, there is a band that breaks the known boundaries of music, pioneering and paving the way for an entire new set of ideas and influences ever before envisaged.
Miles Davis did it with the stunning jazz-rock fusion album
Bitches Brew and
RATM with their rap-rock self titled album. In the darker realm of death metal, bands like
Cynic and
Atheist did the inconceivable by bringing elements of Jazz into possibly the most bone crunching genre to have been created thus far. Is it such a far step then, to venture into Flametal's debut album,
The Elder? Despite the rather bland band name, this foray into the relatively untouched genre of 'flamenco-metal' will leave you with a grin on your face.
"From the first moment I heard Flamenco guitar. I thought to myself - if these guys played metal, they would shred all over everyone!"
I was let down to find this band actually originates from California, and not some exotic far away town in middle of Spain, but, fantasies aside, that in no way detracts from the unique album that is
The Elder. True to its name, you get what expect " blazing acoustic flamenco melodies laid over aggressive distortion drenched guitars with traditional handclaps (Palmas) and footwork (Taconeo) to give it that palm villa Spanish spice - and it works. Unlike Marc Rizzo's (Soulfly) solo album (which is the closest sounding thing you'll ever get to this album) which had distinct metal and flamenco parts separated from each other,
The Elder manages to incorporate both sounds in a successful manner that has never been done before.
"I was sick of seeing 4 ugly dudes on a stage boring me with their predictable 4/4 riffs"
The brainchild behind this project is the remarkable Benjamin Woods, whom, after having all his electrical guitar gear stolen by his roommate, was forced to play his speed metal tunes on a classical guitar. With somewhat of a revolution in his train of thought, he spent the next eight years establishing himself as a flamenco guitar soloist and accompanist before traveling to Spain. On his return to the states, Benjamin worked with the legendary
Marty Freidman on his solo album
Music For Speeding (Plays on the track "Love Sorrow") before forming his own brand of metal -
Flametal.
"It all started when a colleague of mine (and guitar genius) Jason McGuire offered to record a flamenco song"
And so it begins with the amazing title track opener, The Elder - during which, in the recording of the demo, Friedman laid down the solos for it. Starting with a soft acoustic guitar melody with a hint of precession that is soon undercut by the whine of a single resonating electrically charged note, the song bursts open with aggressive power chords over a flurry of flamenco scales and furious clapping. By its end, you know this is no normal CD.
Continuing through with the charming Silencio/Escobila, which is undoubtedly the most 'flamenco' piece on the album, if I had to give a visual interpretation of the song, it'd go like this: Its evening, you and your mates have been invited to a flame-lit villa by the beach for a party. You arrive and its empty; suddenly soft music starts playing, and out of no where these exotic Spanish babes start to climb all over you while you sit in your wooden stripped chair. As the music intensifies, flamenco dancers (which Flametal have now incorporated into their live act) fill the floor going full speed with crazy footwork and triple fingered strumming until the music and all that it immerses reaches its eventual climax.
So goes the rest of the album, alternating and interweaving its aggressive heaviness and light fringed flamenco, from the amazingly arranged Cuatro Cabelleros to the fourteen minute epic closer, Journey into fear. The influences on this album are subtle but there for all to see -
Slayer,
Exodus,
Kreator,
Paco De Lucia,
Al Di Meola - the list goes on. It"s a fine one, and the sum of its parts is well worth the listen.
As with many experimental albums however, there are pitfalls that are hard to avoid with no light to guide the way. One major one is the production - almost the entire album was recorded live in a single sitting, including the flamenco percussion. This in itself isn't a bad thing, but you're going to need some excellent recording tools, especially to produce an album with such obvious acoustic parts. Somewhere, the mastering just wasn't on a level that would make this album sound so much more full and exciting as it has the potential to be. Vocals too, although used sparsely, could be well improved. The third problem is one not so easily fixed. While
The Elder is success in terms of what it is trying to achieve, its comes off a little short in its replay value. The formula is a good one, but it can only be used so many times before getting a little old.
Replay value or not, there is no question to this record's originality. This is no
Inner Mounting Flame or
Focus (By the
Mahavishnu Orchestra and
Cynic respectively), but you'll be hard pressed to find anything like it anywhere else, and for that in itself, it deserves a listen. Fans of soft music, ten ton metal, guitarists, percussionists, world music lovers - all will have something to listen out for in this solid effort.
Pros
+ Great Originality
+ Interesting Percussion
+ Great Flamenco Guitars
+ Good balance
Cons
- Production could be better
- Vocals
- Lacking replay value
Recommended tracks
The Elder
Silencio/Escobila
Bruja Tortura
4/5
