Review: Dry River – Cuarto Creciente

Style: Prog Rock, AOR, Hard Rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Van Halen, Asia, The Dear Hunter
Review by: Andy
Country: Spain
Release date: 11 October, 2022

In 1982 Asia released their first album to critical success and also to the chagrin of prog fans globally, expectant of a progressive masterpiece befitting of the pedigree of musicians from King Crimson, ELP, and Yes, the world got arena rock tracks with hints of prog. To this day, I think Asia’s blend of accessibility and slight forays into prog has been unjustly overlooked by prog fans who are scared by the idea of an honest chorus. Flash forward to the last couple years, and Spain’s Dry River have written a couple album-oriented-rock albums injected with hard rock, instrumental and especially vocal prowess, and, yes, proggy elements. Their album 2038 is a highly overlooked gem with one of the best prog rock tracks–”Perder el Norte”–of the last decade, and this followup, Cuarto Creciente, keeps all the hard-rockin’ fun of 2038, so it is with great honor I get to show off this band to a prog audience.

While I mentioned the album largely keeps a hard rock energy, we’re quickly treated to progginess; bells ring out in “Culpable” and a bridge section around the middle has a technical guitar riff only made better by a great guitar tone and elegant phrasing. When the track cuts back to piano and vocals near the end, you have to know the band will roar out of it for an epic finale, and they do, but while Cuarto Creciente always feels like you ought to be able to predict what will come, the album actually keeps you on your toes. This is the inherent progginess of Dry River: while AOR and hard rock have obvious moments that hook the listener because you’ve heard the chord progression a million times, Dry River cleverly obfuscates these moments with more adventurous sounds. For instance, some tracks change to Dream Theater instrumentals with crazy syncopation and intense playing or a track will shift into an acoustic guitar solo like “Segundo Intento”–tricky moments like these enable prog fans to enjoy it while not alienating an audience with tracks running dozens of minutes long or completely unfamiliar textures appearing at a whim. Cuarto Creciente is familiar but relatively unpredictable.

The performances across the board–especially the choruses that are catchy enough to have me trying to sing along in Spanish–are the most impressive parts of this album. Angel Belinchon dramatically and effortlessly belts and sings awesome verses and choruses, a hugely enviable vocal feat. Unlike many prog singers, he doesn’t sound like he has to try to hit high notes, and his passionate deliveries elevate each song. Even his spoken word on “Calles Inundadas” knocks it out of the park, wonderfully evocative even in a non-native language for me. The whole package is a clean, modern but retro, production, especially with the 80s synths running across the album, reminiscent of Van Halen and other time-period specific hard rock acts. The rhythm section plods along keeping pace, often marching like in “La Serpiente,” and the guitars shred when permitted but show appropriate restraint for non proggy hard rock although three guitars are doing the work that two or even one really talented guitarist could do. I would love to hear them better utilize three talented guitarists because that potential feels squandered right now. 

Finally, every track differs enough from the next that all of Cuarto Creciente remains engaging. Even the ballad “Si Estás Tú,” which admittedly suffers from overly hackneyed chord progressions doesn’t lose my attention because of the stellar vocals, including Angel’s most obvious foray into a light falsetto. Every chorus is independently catchy, too, especially harder rock ones where the backing chorus comes out: I guarantee you’ll be singing along by the end of “Funeral” even if you don’t speak Spanish–“Bienvenidos a mi funeral.” The only track I wish were significantly reworked is the finale, “Despedida.” Closing forty-five minutes of grand hard rock with a halfhearted ballad and a singalong chant of “lalala” is extremely disappointing: The finale is the time to whip out the progginess! 

Dry River may not have topped 2038 with its highlights like “Perder el Norte,” but a full album of new, fun, and proggy hard rock tunes can’t ever hurt. Loaded with highlights and standout moments, Cuarto Creciente is engaging and well worth any prog fan’s time, and who knows… maybe this is the album that will convert your friend who listens to “classic rock” into a prog fan!

Recommended tracks: Culpable, La Serpiente, Calles Inundadas
You may also like: Virtual Symmetry, The Neal Morse Band
Final verdict: 7.5/10

Related links: Spotify | Official Website | Facebook

Label: La Capula Music

Dry River is:
– Angel Belinchon (vocals, keyboards, guitar)
– Guillermo Guerrero (guitars, choirs)
– Matias Orero (guitar, choirs)
– David Mascaro (bass, backing vocals)
– Pedro Corral (drums, choirs)
– Miquel Centelles (keyboards)