Angel Ontalva - 2023 - A Haunted, Hidden World of Caves

(39:00; OctoberXart Records)

Track list:
1. Golden Path 2:58
2. Stone Trees 5:49
3. The Smoke of Your Fire 4:56
4. Tunnels 3:27
5. Eye of the Desert 3:14
6. The Lure and the Coordinates 5:47
7. Beehive on the Wall 3:04
8. Free in the Dark Hills 3:16
9. A Wide Vessel 3:53
10. The Place Where You Were Born (Without a Trace) 2:36

Line-up:
Víctor Rodríguez - keyboards
Ivan Fedotov - drums, percussion
Angel Ontalva - guitars, bass
with:
Vitay Borodin - violin
Markus Breuss - trumpet
John Falcone - bassoon, clarinet, saxophone


Prolusion.
Spanish composer and musician Angel Ontalva has a couple of decades behind him as an active creator inside the field of progressive rock, and has released a number of albums since he launched his solo career back in 2012 with "Mundo Flotante". Including live albums and collaborations he now has at least 20 albums to his name. The most recent of these is the studio album "A Haunted, Hidden World of Caves", which was released in the spring of 2023 on Ontalva's own label Octoberxart Records.

Analysis.
Ontalva has a long career behind him in the field of progressive music, and he tends to stick to a few specific subsets of the style that are all filed inside of the rock partition of the progressive music universe. That is also the case on this latest studio album of his.

Instrumental progressive rock is the name of the game here, and the subset of the progressive rock universe this album will be filed under is jazzrock. It isn't a conventional production of the type however, as Ontalva brings a few more traits to the table than merely jazz and rock.

The rhythm section will generally cater for the jazzier impulses throughout, and the guitar will more often than not also provide motifs, movements and details that emphasize the jazz aspect of the proceedings, but with rock music elements also being on the menu for all three instruments. Understated and elegant movements and details is the norm here as everywhere else, Ontalva isn't a musician that use dramatic effects all that often.

Folk music and world music details are important flavors in many of the tracks here, and the guitar is once again a vital piece in the creation of these impulses, with the violin as the other vital component in the compositions featuring this instrument.

Then we have the piano, brass and reed instruments, that alongside the violin will also be used to add a classical music touch to the landscapes explored, more often than not with something of a chamber music feel. Most of these instruments will also occasionally be used to add jazzier impulses to the arrangements, with the roles of the instruments being as fluent as the compositions, but there are some general tendencies here and for the piano, brass and reeds they tend to be more important for the classical music references.

As indicated, the compositions here are fluent, seamless and elegant affairs, and the borders between the different stylistic orientations are fluent to the point of being just about non-existent. It is easy to hear that this is an album made by a seasoned composer, as all the details combine in a manner that comes across as effortless, with subtle nuances and careful instrument details building and maintaining tension and captivating moods and modes with apparent ease, and with some manner or other of ear candy always present in some form or other. And while this is an album with a striking and uniform identity there is variation in approach in execution from one composition to the next too, as well as a couple of detours into Crimsonian and acoustic landscapes towards the end. Both of which come across as natural inclusions on the album rather than as creations that stand out for being distinctly different from the rest of the material at hand. Which says a bit about the quality of the mix and production, but also how the tone, timbre and the performance of the individual instruments combine to create a distinct album identity.

Conclusion.
Angel Ontalva has a consistent high quality to the albums he creates, where the compositions are well thought out, the performance of the musicians are of consistent high quality and the mix and production manages to emphasize the best and most appealing qualities of the compositions in a subtle and elegant manner. Subjective taste will obviously be the factor that determines how music the individual will enjoy the end result, but on an objective level this is an album without any weak points. As always with this artist this is an album that is easy to recommend, and those with an affection for instrumental progressive rock that combine and blend elements from jazzrock, classical music and world music can note down this album as a production that is a required listen for 2023.


Olav "Progmessor" Björnsen, April 2023

Links:
https://angelontalva.com/
https://www.facebook.com/octoberxart