(We venture off our usual beaten paths today with the following very engaging interview conducted by Comrade Aleks with a member of the Puerto Rican band Moths, whose progressive metal goes off in very interesting and often unexpected directions.)

Things happen and it’s difficult to support each new release in time, but I believe that it’s better late than never, and today I’m belatedly announcing that Puerto Rican experimental outfit Moths have a second full-length album Septem, with each track of that dedicated to one of the seven sins. The idea isn’t new, but its execution sounds unique. I can’t say the same about the lyrics, however, as they pose the issue directly, without any frills, and yet the Moths’ essence is quite unusual.

The casual and flirtatious folk prelude “Sloth” could be anything but a prelude to a metal album. However, with “Envy,” electric guitar takes over, and the listener is treated to avant-garde and progressive witchy heavy rock. Moths’ new vocalist, Mariel Viruet, previously fronted a local tribute band and performed in a jazz band. Here, she showcases both trained jazz and extreme vocals, effortlessly channeling the track’s hard rock intensity.

“Greed” bursts in unexpectedly hard, predatory, and fast: Mariel growls out the lyrics and switches to her usual delivery. “Pride” follows the pattern of “Greed,” but this extreme, doomy metal piece is imbued with the prowess of progressive rock, with a loud, jazzy vocal and a wealth of instrumental nuances. The difference lies in the details, and Moths sounds disorienting in any case, and the extremity of “Wrath” is unique. Liquid prog parts mutate into fat riffs, growls alternate with jazzy and pop vocals, and all together it sounds bold, unusual, even provocative.

So, today, almost one year after Septem’s release, we managed to organize an interview with the band’s spokesman and bass-player Weslie Negrón. Continue reading »