MOODOOM ~ DESDE EL BOSQUE .... review

Heavy blues of the type once churned out by the likes of Cream and Mountain has become a rare commodity these days, sure there are plenty of bands still jamming grooves that are both heavy and bluesy but none that have captured that same blend of late 60's psych and early 70's hard rock in quite the same way as those two bands mentioned did back in their day. Well this is what we at Desert Psychlist thought before we chanced upon Moodoom, Cristian Marchesi (guitar/vocals); Jonathan Calleja (bass/vocals) and Javier Cervetti (drums), a trio from Buenos Aires, Argentina who's latest album "Desde el Bosque" not only owes a huge debt to Cream and Mountain but also early Black Sabbath.

The musicianship throughout "Desde el Bosque" is of an unbelievably high standard,  Cervetti brings an element of swing to the proceedings with a display of drumming that even the late Ginger Baker might approve of while Marchesi's guitar playing brings all the necessary swagger and strut that music of this nature demands, a guitarist with an understanding of when to let loose and when and hold back his lead work is scorching and feel based, his chord work crunching and gnarly. The gold star however has to go to Calleja, whether the bassist is mirroring Marchesi's riffs, laying down booming walking blues motifs or locking in with Cervetti on a heavy proto-doom groove he is never, EVER less than impressive, a true master of his instrument.  If there is one chink in Moodoom's armour it is that they do not possess a vocalist of the quality of a Jack Bruce or a Lesley West but that is a minor quibble as the combined vocals of Marchesi and Calleja (sung in Spanish) are more than adequate decoration for the superb heavy blues grooves they sit above. We did mention Black Sabbath in our intro piece and you may well be wondering where they figure in what we have so far described as essentially a blues album, well the tracks "La noche del lagarto" and "Las maravillas de estar loco" will answer that query, the former boasts a low slung doom groove that is unashamedly Sabbathian in all but its vocals and the latter is a mix of heavy blues and proto doom that will please fans of both genres. 

"Desde el Bosque" is an album that will appeal to those brought up on 70's rock as much as it will to those coming to the underground rock scene anew, an album from a band of Argentinian musicians on a mission to put the heavy back into the blues.

Check it out ....... 

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