Har Belex – Campo De Urnas (Album – Caustic Records)
Genre/Influences: Neo-Folk, Chanson.
Format: Digital, CD.
Background/Info: Eight years after the debut album “Chandelle” Spanish duo Har Belex strikes back with a new opus. This side-project by Manix S. (Pail and Caustic Records owner) and Salva Maine (Culture Kultür) is a true antithesis to their respective projects dealing with styles like EBM, Future-Pop and Industrial.
Content: This album features 10 songs which are rapidly leading the listener into a dreamy universe of Neo-Folk, Chanson and Ballads. The songs are mainly driven by acoustic guitar and electronic arrangements but also by violin parts played by a guest musician. Most of the tracks are sung in English but also in their Mother tongue.
+ + + : I wasn’t that convinced by the debut album of Har Belex but this new opus took me by surprise. It’s not the typical Neo-Folk production but a fusion between different influences. Some passages remind me of the latest works of Rome although Har Belex sounds more dreamy, light and evasive. The songs are touched by a sensitive side which is also injected by the melancholic melodies of the violin. The work reveals different beautiful songs and I especially like the ones sung in English. “Waves” is a brilliant and sensitive piece of music but I also have to mention “One More Nail” which sounds more passionate and ending into an elevating effect with the strings on top of the work. Last, but not least I also have to say a word about the great artwork of the CD format.
– – – : I was less convinced by the softer, ballad-like songs and especially the ones sung in Spanish.
Conclusion: Har Belex is a surprising project especially if you know who’s hiding behind but it also reveals the eclecticism of both protagonists who have achieved a beautiful album.
Best songs: “One More Nail”, “Waves”, “Jentilarri”, “The End Of The Summer”, “El Corazon Del Bosque”.
Rate: 8½.
Side-Line reported on the record in February 2022, when Caustic Records presented “The End of The Summer” as the first single from “Campo de Urnas”.
Listen to “Campo de Urnas”:
Artist: www.harbelex.com / www.facebook.com/harbelex
Label: www.causticrecords.com / www.facebook.com/CAUSTICRECORDS
About Har Belex
Har Belex is a Spanish neofolk duo formed by Manix S., also active in Pail, and Salva Maine of Culture Kultür. The two set the project up to work on subjects outside their electronic output, among them nature, local tradition, history and the place of religion in modern society. Side-Line announced the pairing in August 2013 under the headline “Neofolk project Har Belex holds members of electro acts Culture Kultür and Pail”.
The duo debuted in 2014 with the 12” split LP “Time Does Not Forgive”, shared with Fragile and issued by Caustic Records. The first full-length, “Chandelle”, appeared on the same label in 2014, and the “Camino De Brea” EP followed on Lichterklang in 2016.
“Campo de Urnas” was released on 31 March 2022 through Caustic Records. The CD came as an embossed six-panel digipak with a 12-page booklet in an edition of 500 copies, next to a vinyl pressing of 200 black and 100 green 180-gram units and an ultra-limited bundle adding a t-shirt and tote bag.
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