Guapo

For 99 percent of the music buying public, Guapo’s Elixirs is going to be a tough sell. But for that remaining one percent — that minority who actually appreciates ten-minute-plus exercises in prog-y, goth-tinted avant-rock — this album will likely be a godsend. In a vein reminiscent of Magma, the Ruins and the more ethereal Six Organs of Admittance output, the long-running British outfit lay down some heavy shit on Elixirs, the closing chapter to the group’s abstract trilogy of albums. With Mellotrons, strings and Fripp-ian guitar lines set to heady jazz-styled drums, Guapo weave one downright eerie piece of experimental rock, rarely letting anything remotely pleasant creep through on this mainly instrumental affair. Ironically, it’s the few moments when the group break character with more melodic segments that stand out as highlights, such as the spaced-out synth close to "Arthur, Elsie and Frances” or the gothic folk rambles of "Twisted Stems: The Heliotrope.” Yet these moments are few and far between, with Elixirs primarily sticking to doom, gloom and an aesthetic best reserved for a dedicated few.