I’ll be honest upfront. I had many difficulties writing a review about this album. It took me several spins to realize why, but now I know: it’s the Ambrosia-syndrome. I don’t know if you still remember that American band from the eighties who made a super commercial form of prog: a very nice instrumentation with super slick vocals. This caused me to have a love-hate relationship with this band. I liked the music but the slickness sometimes got the better of me. Well, I think I will develop the same kind of relationship with Aisles, because on their second album In Sudden Walks this Chilean band basically operates in the same way as Ambrosia did. Opener Mariachi is prog-influenced and with almost ten minutes very enjoyable to listen to. In the following tracks Revolution of Light and Summer Falls, the slick singing begins which sometimes gives me the creeps. It continues on the next songs causing me to have mixed feelings about this release. In the end the instrumental parts in their 15-minute epic Hawaii do convince me that Aisles is a pretty good band that maybe should take a bit more risk in writing compositions and with their singing. I look forward to a third album that should have a bit of a rough edge to it. **+André de Waal (edited by Peter Willemsen) Where to buy? |
