For the second time this year I’m pinching myself as I’ve had a sneaky early listen to a new album from Par Ásito main man, Fabriccio De La Mora, Back in May, I brought you my thoughts on his debut solo album Grand Unified Theories, a stunning gallop through the galaxy. Now he’s back with Entropy Death and as you can imagine, I was dying to find out what it was all about. Here’s what he said.
“This album is an interpretation of the different stages that constitute the death of a supernova, as well as the hypothesis of the heat death of the universe. Both of these hypothesis stem from the second law of thermodynamics, which states that entropy tends to increase in an isolated system. If this system lasts enough, eventually energy would evenly dissipate, cooling it off.”
“Compared to the previous album, Entropy Death constitutes a more hardcore punk approach to kraut rock, along with a few other unorthodox rhythmic sections that give the album a singular yet original grit. Entropy Death was composed, arranged and recorded at home with the help of Gustavo Jimenez on drums and Sergio Florean on electric guitar.”
More hardcore you say!! That’s what I’m all about! Let’s get in amongst this and see what’s what!
Straight out the gate we are going harder than before. ‘Star Dust’ trades a more sedately paced lead guitar line against a fast and furious backing. As the track goes on it evolves and opens up into this luminescent arrangement so utterly engaging you just find yourself hypnotised by its groove. It’s tracks like this that De La Mora executes with consummate ease. As opening tracks go, they don’t get much better than this.
‘Gravity Bump’ bounces in next, all attitude and nervous tension. The pace isn’t letting up here as we barrel headlong into this number. The drums and bass keep us steady on course as the guitar creates a psychedelic power source to take us into orbit and beyond. This would make a brilliant theme tune for a sci-fi show!
Things get infinitely more complex and intricate on ‘Gas Giant’. The tone darkens with a looming, threatening bass playing off a stunning drum performance from Jimenez. Things boil and bubble before the band erupts into an intergalactic version of Motorhead. When De La Mora said he was going hardcore this time, he wasn’t lying.
‘Proto Star’ lightens the mood considerably with its playful time signature and electronica. The guitars sound even bigger than usual creating this soaring wall of sound. A wall of sound that only expands and grows into the second half of this number. Things get steadily more intense and frantic as our fledgling celestial body takes form. This is a really aptly named track.
We head to the opposite end of the universe to catch the final moments of the ‘Red Giant’. Things are more fuzzed out, static lined signals from the cosmos. The band lock in a tight groove and ride it out until the end. The music, like the star from the title, collapsing in on itself on the final note. A lovely attention to detail!
The album closes out on the sprawling epic that is ‘Black Dwarf’. A theoretical end of stellar evolution where a dead star no longer emits any light or heat. Our universe isn’t old enough to have created any so De La Mora is conjuring one in musical form. Things begin quietly enough, like we’re hearing the music come in on a space transmission from millions of light years away. Soon enough the bass joins the signal followed shortly after by the drums. They tear through into our reality and things get real. The closing three minutes are nothing short of epic and some of the finest space rock I’ve heard.
Once again, De La Mora has taken us out into the cosmos to discover the musical language of the universe. His passion for all things cosmic comes through in bucketloads and shines like a star through each and every track. My imagination is a much better place because of this album. Yours will be too. Just climb into the rocket and hold on tight.
Entropy Death is out Friday 2nd December. You can grab a copy on limited edition orange vinyl from Dirty Filthy Records. If you’re in or near the USA head for Echodelick Records Bandcamp page. There are only 250 copies of this one so be fast!
You can follow Fabriccio De La Mora on social media here…
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