Bonzo Fimbres - 2022 - The Suicidal Theater Company

(41:30; Sahuaro Records)

Track list:
1. Levitating Man 7:54
2. The Suicidal Theater Company 7:11
3. Particula De Dios 11:12
4. Starmaker 8:06
5. Critical Mass 7:07

Line-up:
Bonzo Fimbres - all instruments


Prolusion.
Mexican artist Bonzo Fimbres is a bit of an unknown quantity to me, and not a lot is described about him on his official internet pages either. He has two albums to his name though. "The Suicidal Theater Company" is the name of the most recent of these, which was released through a label called Sahuaro Records in the early fall of 2022.

Analysis.
Progressive metal is the style explored on this production, and it is a rather expressive take on the form at that, as well as containing music that really uses contrasting elements for what they are worth throughout. In addition, this is also an instrumental production.

About one half of this album explores different categories of metal. Traditional heavy metal, with a few nods towards classic hard rock, but also thrash metal, doom metal and possibly also extreme metal. The guitar sound used in these metal escapades is a dark, primal and gruff one, rough sounding electric guitar with a lot of grit and distortion. On occasion with off kilter scale movements or used as part of a more avant-oriented movement or motion.

The interesting bit is that these different metal escapades exist side by side with more elegant, light toned and relaxed forays into jazz, as well as coexisting with similar elegant dips into folk music and world music. Most songs will switch back and forth a multitude of times between these different styles and subsets of styles, and elements from one or more will at times bleed over to the others as well. This is executed in an efficient and logical manner, more often than not with an elegant touch too. It can be a striking and jolting experience to go from primal, brutal metal to elegant jazz and folk music escapades, but Fimbres executes this with fine control in an elegant and logical manner.

If there is one downside to this album, then it is that the mix and production sounds like they have been made within a tight budget. This makes the music sound more primitive than it actually is, especially for the metal flavored escapades, and audiophiles will probably have to look elsewhere if a high fidelity experience is what they crave.

Conclusion.
For those who have a passion for expressive varieties of progressive metal that plays around with and incorporate unexpected elements in expressive and experimental manners, who also find that the use of strikingly contrasting elements are fascinating, this latest production by Bonzo Fimbres is most certainly worth a shot. A solid and intriguing production.

Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, November 2022

Links:
https://bonzofimbres.bandcamp.com/