Any Colour You Like
I did not know what to expect when I downloaded Uaral's second full length album from their last.fm page (yes, it is free and legal). What I got was a wonderfully emotional mix of Classical Latin guitar, neofolk, dark ambient and guttural doom-like vocals. Mixed in with this, is a healthy dose of keyboard atmospherics, the occasional clean-tone guitar riff, nature samples and a further mixture of screamed, sung and cried vocals. Yes, crying.
Lamentos a Poema Muerto is a depressing album. I can't understand the vocals, but they sound quite brutally downcast. Combine this with the stark orchestration, gives the album a very solitary feel, and helps the listener gain a sense of mourning and loss. The latin inspired acoustics are really nice, and clash heavily with the growled vocals. Interesting, yes, but also quite experimental and genre-challenging. There is nothing technical about the music here, but with Uaral that does not matter. It is all about setting the emotion and mood. It is also worth noting that band member Aciago plays all the instruments, which is no mean feat in itself, with Caudal providing the vocals. Several tracks stand out, especially "Lamentos", which manages to showcase all the feathers in the cap of the band, whilst developing a soul-wrenching sound. The album is not without faults however. The deep guttural growls are extremely hard to understand, even making it nigh-on impossible to even decipher what language the lyrics are sung in. And while crying is a valid expression of emotion, I personally feel the cried vocals sections may be just a little too much for a relatively restrained and sedate album. It is also worth noting that there is no 'metal' as per se here - with the exception of the vocals. So if you were thinking of a Chilean version of Agalloch, think again.
Nonetheless, Lamentos a Poema Muerto is an interesting and thought provoking album, a wonderful experimental mash of ideas and sonic aesthetics. It also stands as a neat little hidden gem of Chilean music.