Gaia II: La voz dormida

And I don't mean their ding dongs. Gaia 2 is a very diverse musical trip that includes flamenco music, traditional Celtic music elements and traditional heavy metal. Unlike Gaia, this release thrives into the heavy metal voyage with a rawer sound and delicious musical passages that will take you to another world. La Voz Dormida (the sleeping voice) offers much more variety with two discs and goes beyond anything Mägo de Oz has ever done. Except for a little glimpse of plagiarism with the song Mañana Empieza Hoy (tomorrow starts today) which they never mention to be a cover song of Hymn by 80's group Ultravox, but since I'm sure no true Mägo de Oz fan knows about Ultravox, this is nothing to be taken too seriously.

First the guitar riffs sound amazing with a fuzzy and heavy guitar tone, incorporating 3 guitarists. Most of the songs sound epic even though some of them have the corniest lyrics ever such as Hazme un sitio entre tu piel (make me space on your skin) and Hoy Toca Ser Feliz (Today is happy day). But songs like La Cantata del Diablo (Devil's Cantata or Devil's Song), Aquelarre (Witches Sabbath), Diabolus In Musica and El Poema De la Lluvia Triste (Sad rain poem) are truly amazing masterpieces with heavy riffs, powerful vocals, and bone chilling instrumentation including violin, flute, cello, and Patricia Tapia's ghastly vocals. All of the songs have clever guitar shredding and tremendous guitar solos. Also check out the instrumental song El Callejón Del Infierno (Alley from hell) which has a very progressive feeling.

If the bass was a little louder, this album would've been much better. Some of the songs have down tuned guitars and down tuned bass as well (tuning to B standard), something you never thought Mägo de Oz would do. Unfortunately, the whole mix drowns the bass sound so you can barely notice it's there.

Now pay attention to Txus's drums. He has improved a lot since Gaia and they mixed his drum kit much better. Even though he's not a brilliant drummer, most of the songs sound really tight as he really knows what he's doing with his solid chops and acceptable double bass parts.

Jose Andrea's vocals are the same as ever, which is brilliant. This time, however, we have collaborations from Patricia Tapia and Víctor García (Warcry) so expect a lot more variety, especially on Diablous In Musica and La Cantata Del Diablo. Even though the lyrics aren't something new or innovative (in fact, some of the lyrics remind me of early '90s black metal), the vocals really stand out and make the music sound outstandingly good.

Gaia II is easily their best album so far and much better than anything they've ever released until today's date.