It ends this year 2012 and it must be said that it has been a really interesting course for Andalusian Rock, good harvest for a musical style that returns with force and does so with new albums of bands called to continue a fight that seemed lost but that for a few years returns to the charge with groups that opt for these sounds. At the head of the greatest exponents today, the Cordoban Medina Azahara who launched a new work recovering the sound of their beginnings with the “Walking through the Mosque”. From Malaga we will arrive before the end of the year the second work of Alhandal after his debut in 2010 with “Raíces”, this time it will be a concept album. From Mallorca Taifa and its Arabic-Andalusian Metal presented us recently their third plastic called “Awakening the Silence”; In addition to some other surprise with the new Malaga Juan Delola, for early 2013 we will have the solo debut of Randy López or another historical musician like Pepe Roca, leader of the Alameda.
Another clear example of this rebirth comes from the Cordovan town of Lucena with the long-awaited second album by Arábiga. After their also self-published first work, which saw the light in 2008 surprising locals and strangers, they return four years later with the release of an album-book entitled “Retazos de Vida” that supposes the co-firmation of Arábiga within the Rock panorama of this country. 12 stories turned into songs made with the heart as their own cover reflects. As they did in their debut, they again take care of the presentation with care, taking care of it their bassist Raúl Torrico.
“Retazos de Vida” opens with what has been his first video-single, “Eres Tú”, a declaration of love to the rhythm of pure Andalusian Rock with moments that remind us of Medina Azahara, referents of the Arabian since its inception. A theme used in recent years by different bands is that of couples who meet through the network and Arábiga does it with “Universos Digitales”, this time giving it his personal touch. “Hablo de Ti” features a chorus of the catchy calls and sprinkled with the magic of the keyboards of Jose Pino, one of the two musicians who were part of another important Andalusian Rock band called Sefarad from which they left to create Arábiga. “An Angel Fallen from Heaven” could well be the title of a classic literary work where the protagonist flirts with death and that I think is the image they wanted to reflect in this album, very literary and accompanied by good melodies. The album has moments for ballads with songs like “Rosas Rojas”, and for others much more rockers, with a great entrance to the rhythm of Raúl’s bass sound in the case of “Tras el Cristal”; where we find the collaboration of the guitar of Jose Rubio, ex Trilogy and ex WarCry.
