Review by Sonny for Dorso - Bajo una luna cámbrica (1989)
Dorso formed in 1984 and remain a going concern, releasing eight full-length albums with quite a wide range of genres from thrash/speed metal, grindcore, progressive rock, heavy metal through to black metal. "Bajo una luna cámbrica" was the band's debut full-length, being released in June of 1984 and featuring the only ever-present band member, bassist / vocalist Rodrigo "Pera" Cuadra, alongside guitarist / vocalist Gamal Eltit. Drum duties were shared by four guest/session drummers with Eltit also manning the kit for the track "Críptica visión".
What we have here with "Bajo una luna cámbrica" is principally a thrash metal album, but it is also a fair bit more than that with some quite impressive progressive touches. The album's longest track, "Cíclope" is a really nice piece of progressive metal with some legitimate Seventies' touches and a distinct latin flavour. The song writing is ambitious, certainly compared to their peers, with the band being more interested in keeping things interesting than trying to be as extreme and fast as possible. This certainly doesn't translate to the album being at all lightweight, they can be plenty aggressive and thrash with the best of them when the mood takes them with some pretty killer riffs, check out "Vuela en tu dragón" or "Hidra" and hear for yourself, it is just that this isn't the be all and end all here. I guess this could be termed as technical thrash metal and the guys do seem to be technically very adept, but I think of it as being more progressive than technical with even a jazz influence at times. The short "Suite", for example, is basically a guitar workout in the vein of a heavy Robert Fripp or even Frank Zappa and Gamal Eltit's guitar solo work is generallyxcellent, utilising a number of variations of style as well as really shredding when required to do so.
Sadly, the production doesn't really do the guys a lot of favours and its muddiness does blunt the edge a little, but not enough to cause any drama, being more of a niggle than a major issue. The songwriting really is fantastic and has impressed me mightily. I can't help wondering whether this was an influence on modern chilean thrash legends Demoniac and the curveballs they like to include in with their thrashing mayhem. I am really glad to have stumbled upon this and I would heartily recommend it to anyone interested in hearing a quite unique album from the Eighties' South American metal scene that offers a bit more than straight ahead metal charges.