RIDER NEGRO – The Echo Of The Desert (2024, Reissue LP Clostridium Records) 

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Clostridium Records

Format: LP, Limited Edition, Black Vinyl, 180gr, Gatefold with black poly-lined inners & LP-size Insert plus Download Code, 220 copies

Format: LP, Limited Edition, Red Transparent Vinyl, 180gr, Gatefold with black poly-lined inners & LP-size Insert plus Download Code, 220 copies

Format: LP, Limited DIE HARD Edition, Red-Black Marbled Vinyl, 180gr, Gatefold with black poly-lined inners & LP-size Insert plus Download Code, plus A3 Poster + A5 Card + Sticker, 220 copies

Release Date: 1 May 2024

Rider Negro is a relatively new band hailing from Mexico. Their debut album “The Echo Of The Desert” was released digitally through Bandcamp in 2020. A CD edition of the album followed in 2021 through Clostridium Records. In 2024 (May), Clostridium released the LP version. This LP version over here contains just 6 tracks out of the 10 that were originally digitally released and of course, the order of the tracks is different. Also, the cover of the CD album is different from the cover of the LP version. We read on their Bandcamp: “Rider Negro emerged from the northern suburbs of Mexico City. It is a Psychedelic Rock project, bringing together styles such as blues, rock, Latin groove, western, and exploration tending to progressive. Hence, the musical channel takes different forms, some of them are atmospheres full of mysticism, leading to introspection and the search for answers here, on this, our Earth”…

The opener “The Wizard III (Beta Orionis)” starts and through its only 98 seconds your imagination almost instantly runs to that haunted “…one of these days I’m gonna cut you into little pieces…”. Yes, that specific atmosphere floods the place, the references to the early 70s Floyd are far more than obvious, and before you even notice you’re into the second track “The Wizard IV (Path To The Core)”, and the first thing that gets your intention is the Jim Morrison-like vocals. It seems/feels like the ghost of Jim has possessed Rider Negro’s singer… There’s an unbelievable similarity and comparisons are inevitable, I think they should not be made, but let’s move on… the music is an alloy of progressive rock, classic rock, and blues rock, the lysergically trippy keys are leading the track to a faraway 70s Floyd-istic path, and No I can’t find any Doors influences if you’re asking… Side “A” closes with “In An Ancient Ziggurat”, (in ancient Mesopotamia a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium BC and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel, Gen. 11:1–9), a trippy dark slow intoxicated Bluesy start (like the one that is under the old-time classic lyric “I turn into my baby and finally found my old blue jeans”), a slow-paced track with Morrison-like vocals, you can say that this is a Blues-Rock ballad, the slow-trippy keys are giving a progressive touch to the track, and after the 5th minute a wandering trippy-heady guitar transforms the song into a mind-bending Psychedelic anthem, slowly you get an intense Middle Eastern feel that makes you wonder if this is an old Mesopotamian melody, after a while the track dives into darkness, into psychness, into obscurity, BUT somehow magically manages to get back to its initial safe mode… Side “B” opens with “Fires In The Cosmic Dawn” (this is how the Digital release originally starts), there’s a strong effected-intro blending earthly & spacey sounds, slowly unfolding a rhythmic progressive rock motive, pinches of 70s Pink Floyd, Morrison-like vocals (of course) while musically it feels like you are inside a Phantom’s Divine Comedy album than a Doors one, finally the progressive rock complexion gets absorbed by the classic rock one… Under a deeply spacey intro with lots of sample voices “Dry And Soft” starts, the band slowly builds a Space Rock soundscape while for the first time  (it’s my opinion, of course), the keys are intensely flirting with Doors, that’s so cool! This is how the Doors could have sounded if they were a Space Rock band! The album comes to an end with the self-titled “The Echo Of The Desert” (also the last track of the Digital release), it’s quite rhythmic with a Groovy Organ sound, distinctive spacey effects, and a rather cool guitar melody blending Prog and Classic Rock, but the show steals that middle section with the excellent use of the piano reminding the famous “Riders On The Storm” solo piano, an absolutely Trippy wondrous track! In conclusion, I definitely, suggest this album to all of you “seekers” out there, you will not be disappointed, and as far as I am concerned, I will be patiently waiting to listen to new stuff by those Mexicans, Rider Negro! TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist

Links: 

Get it through CLOSTRIDIUM RECORDS webshop

Listen/Buy via RIDER NEGRO Bandcamp

Alternatively, grab it via SHINY BEAST Mailorder

Visit RIDER NEGRO Facebook