North of South (review by MMB)

North of South

New Latitudes

Rockshots Records

28 August 2018

One can readily hear the enthusiasm that North of South has for music. The recording is a nightmare for the category-loving critics. If anything, the music is a sort of salad. It is melodic progressive, with catchy lines and little elements of Spain, the artist’s home country, such as Spanish guitar and some Spanish language parts, although the lyrics are in the vast majority in English. Sometimes the music sounds very rocking, very metal, sometimes a bit pop, or even like a form of hard rock smooth jazz. In other words, the music is a bit all over the place, although heavy metal is never too far away. The enthusiasm goes a long way towards making the recording interesting for those listeners looking for something eclectic, but still in the realm of melodic and progressive.

The area where the most improvement in the future will take place will be the singing. As it is now, it is a cool midrange voice that fits the music, but the projection of the voice is not as strong as it could be. The Spanish origin is notable in the voice and this is not something that needs to be change. It gives the music a personal character. What future recordings will show is Chechu Gómez (guitar, bass, keyboards, synths, drum programming and vocals) finding his voice as a singer, which is something that is a work in progress on this album. The singing does not have high screams and it has no growling. This is a good thing. It has a nice, pleasant midrange tone that appeals to more people looking to sing along to songs.

More experience, more albums, more practice, and more dedication to the singing will certainly result in better singing in the future. We look forward to hearing the future music of this project as it possibly turns towards bringing in more musicians to contribute real drums and other instruments and ideas.

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