Well, Mago de Oz is a band that comes from Spain, they are considered as the best band to come out from that country, this is their 3rd album if you count their EP, and considered by many as their best album so far, and its very true, it has that peculiar mix of two great genres, Folk and Metal, and they do it incredebly well, this is a must have for any metalhead, altough it is going to be difficult to understand for many because its obviously in spanish, and its hard to get into the vocals at first, but once you get into it, you are going to love them......well onto the review.
This album talks is a sort of “story” about Don Quijote de la Mancha”, all of the songs talk about that character, and they did a very fine job in doing this.
The first track is an instrumental intro
En Un Lugar...Prologo it starts with some flutes, the melody is very soothing and relaxing, as the track goes on the drums and guitar join in to make a great atmosphere, this is a great intro for the album, it gives a small taste of the huge album that this is.....nothing much to say as this is a one minute intro so, i wont rate it
The next track is one of my favorites in here
El Santo Grial, it has a lot of tapping, and fast paced guitar and drums riffs, the solo is exactly one minute long, and i got to say, that solo is an incredibly well played, and fast solo, the vocals have a very long range, at sometimes it becomes a little annoying, but youll get over it, another highlight in this song is the violin solo, wich comes right after the guitar solo ends, and its one hell-of a solo, incredible song really......
4.5/5
So, on comes the next song
La Leyenda de la Mancha, this is an average track, it basically is a medium paced track, the vocals are good tough, the song has a nice solo at half of the track, the violin and the flutes play an important role in this song, if there are some highlights in this song, i would have to say those two instruments, the main riff is actually played by the violinist, average track overall......
3.5/5
After that song ends, comes in another instrumental song
Noche Toledana, this is a very short
1:14 song, but it is very beautifull, it is very easy to play, it has a lot of slides, nothing much to say of this awesome track tough, sadly very short, i wont rate it either
Next up is one of the most known songs by Mago
Molinos de Viento, it starts very nice and powerfull with the a fast violin riff and a Palm Muted guitar riff, it has also wonderful lyrics and a fast solo. The vocals are one of the many highlights in this track, they stand out more in the chorus, where he sangs, “Bebe, danza, sueña siente que el viento ha sido echo para ti vive, escucha y habla usando para ello el corazón siente que la lluvia besa tu cara cuando haces el amor grita con el alma grita tan alto que de tu vida, tu seas amigo el único actor”, definetelly a stand out track…..
5/5
After that wonderful track comes in the next song
Dime con Quien Andas, this is a good song, nothing special but definetelly good, it’s a slow song, the lyrics are, again, another highlight, the vocals are acompained by the violins, which create a sort of “love” atmosphere, the solo is good, specially for the type of song. The vocalist is incredible, he contributes a lot in every song making them memorable songs, specially the chorus, they are very catchy and full of high pitched vocals, very nice and relaxing song, not a highlight but definetely good…..
4/5
Next up is one of the album’s best songs [Maritormes], the intro guitar riff is catchy as hell, it has a sort of “duel” between the guitar and the violin for the intro, the vocals are awesome again, the drums are’nt mind-blowing but they do the job very well. The bridge is awesome, it’s lead by the violin, after the bridge ende, the solo comes in very fast, another excellent guitar solo, the song ende with the main riff, trully a great track….
4/5
Next up is one of the “poorest” tracks
El Balsamo de Fierabrás, it isnt crap but it doesnt measure to the awesome tracks above this one, the vocals are very strange, it has a jazz feel in them, oh but the main violin riff is damm catchy, its definetely one of the highlights, as well as the solo, those ser two very good pieces of work, nothing special about this one…
3/5
The next track
El Pacto is awesome live but not that good in the album, it starts with a decent bass line, and then the violinist does his work and leads the rest of the song, the vocals are somewhat dissapointing in this track, they are….umm…..just weird, they seem out of place or something, i dont know, the rest of the song is good tough, the solo is again another highlight in this song, the chorus is decent, it slows down a bit for the chorus, but it catches its original médium pace, and it ends that way, decent song…
3.5/5
Next is the third instrumental song so far
La Insula de Barataria and definetelly the best, it starts with te violin and the flutes, this is a bit longer than the other instrumental songs [2:59], and its veeery relaxing, the flute lines dominate the song, from start to finish you can just relax and enjoy this awesome instrumental, the flute solo is brilliant, the whole song is awesome, it never looses its grip over you, definetely a stand-out track. As well as the other instrumental songs, i wont rate this one.
The next track is the slowest and my favorite track in here
El Templo del Adios....this song is just brilliant, the lyrics are definetely the best in here, the song is basically led by the acoustic guitars, and the beautiful flute lines, the vocals are definetely a stand-out, some of the best vocal work is in here, the song talks about the adventure that Don Quijote had with the White Moon “Knight”, that basically lead him to die in his bed, this trully is a beautifull song, a must have for everyone......
50/5
After that brilliant song, come up a sort of mediocre song
Requiem, i just dont like this song, the vocals are horrible...The song starts with the vocalist saying something about his girl, then the violin come in and it leads the whole song, the song speeds up about half of the song, but i dont know theres something about this song that just makes me want to skip it, worst track in here....
2.5/5
And after that horrible song, comes one of the best songs in this album
Ancha es Castilla (Epilogo), the closing track for this brilliant album is in the top 3 songs, definetely awesome, it starts with some slow piano work and it speed up very soon (0:07), and it keeps that way the whole song, once again the good vocals reign in this track, the solo is brilliant, and the drums are standard, awesome closing track.....
4.5/5
Well this is my first review so i hope i did well, overall an awesome album
