20 Jun 2011

Great review of Serpentina Satelite's Mecanica Celeste album



The nice people at Progsphere have written this nice review of the Serpentina Satelite ltd Lp 'Mecanica Celetse', which you can purchase here.

"I have to admit that I’ve had this album in my queue for a long time, not because of laziness or something, but because I was searching and waiting for the right moment to write about it. The wait is over now. Mecanica Celeste is the third album of these psyched Peruvians released on Rocket Recordings. The show an enormous worship of Hawkwind, the real gurus of space/psychedelic rock.

Mecanica Celeste is 43 minutes long opus that follows Hawkwind’s paved path, but still delving into new depths and dimensions. The songs are based on spontenity rather than multilayering and structuring, although rounded as an entity they reflect as pretty complex tunes.

The leading instruments here are of course guitars, but the important role has been assigned to plenty of sound effects which make this record pretty cold and creepy at times. The guitars of Dolmo and Renato Gomez come across differently structured parts ranging from unnatural groans in the opening Fobos to expansive psychedelic guidelines in Sangre de Grado and the title track, to sludgy references in Ai Apaec and some heavy dooming in closing Sendero. Vocals, performed by the bassist Felix Detre serve as an add-on to the whole soundimage and are rather hidden and scattered around.

Serpentina Satélite is a personification of the certified and the contemporary, wrapping up together Hawkwind with White Hills, Amon Düül II, Naam, Ash Ra Tempel and Pharaoh Overlord. Mecanica Celeste has a manipulative note correlated with pure psychedelia, haughty guitars and their spaced out solos, echoing vocals, twisted dronings, religious preachings, et al. In general, it’s a good step forward in a promising career of this Peruvian act. Recommended."

See the review here

---