Combining years of musical experience, this guitarist/composer/songwriter known as E. Lafuentes has been around for many years around New York under our radar —until now. Melding a unique yet accessible blend of aggressive guitars, polyrhythmic beats, tasty keyboards, groove-ridden bass lines and infectious vocals, the E. Lafuentes sound is a testament to how this Bronx based artist insists on shifting the face of Hard Rock, Metal of Industrial Metal. Enter the mind musing, cosmic trip of his latest fill length CD entitled E-Magic and you will see this is really an Old Scholl Hard Rock composer with a modern sounding flair. This dark opus skirts the lines of life and death, love and loss, and everything in between. It’s a primal scream and very human blend of E. Lafuentes’s progressive yet accessible signature jagged edge rock sound. Indeed intelligent lyrics and catchy melody lines are the heart of his formula. The music brings complex tunes, heartfelt rhythms and melodies, and an element of Heavy-Prog-Metal together via a high-energy release that’s sure to provoke a positive reaction from every listener that gives them just a minute of their time. At the end of the day E Magic is an exciting album full of music that will push the envelope. The songs on the album are a mixture of songs that encourage you to tap your foot, but also offer a mixture of dark and foreboding sounds, topics and a wild musical landscape that will keep you guessing or wondering what’s around the next corner. From sonic-theatrical “The Sun” to more intense “Breath of God” one of their more impressive tracks, to the more trippy “Live for Ever” and “God of War” to melodic “King no Name” there’s something here for old and new rockers alike. Criticisms: E. Lafuentes needs to take some vocal lessons. His vocal appeal is lackluster at best and he needs to stack up to where his writing level is. Right now it’s way behind. Drums sound kind of corny, overly sonic and cheesy. Despite this E. Lafuentes offers a unique opportunity to sit back and see where the wild journey takes you via an interesting CD that will remind you of Alice in Chains, Rob Zombie, White Zombie, Scum of the Earth, Powerman 5000 and even Temple of the Dog. E Lafuentes is a Bronx based project worth checking out live or via studio recordings, but their hard sound captures the essence of Hard Industrial Rock at its roots.
URL: http://www.elafuentesmagic.com
REVERBNATION: http://www.reverbnation.com/elafuentes
Rating 7.5/10
by Kim Muncie edited by Markus Druery
Review comments: marktheshark972@gmail.com
