If your personal muse is to avoid the non-melodic, crashy, samey and oft-times unbearable nature of some heavy rock, stop for a moment and listen to Eldorado‘s new album, Antigravity Sound Machine. A Spanish heavy rock band that is only five years old, Eldorado has already taken the US, UK and European rock scenes by storm, undoubtedly helped in no small measure by Aerosmith and Rush producer, Richard Chycki.

A four-piece consisting of Jesus Trujillo on delicious vibrato vocals, Andres Duende on guitar, Cesar Sanchez on bass and Javi Planelles bashing the skins, this is a band of extraordinary talent. Although citing Bad Company, Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin as major musical influences on their style and performances, I can hear a distinct classic rock sound that owes heaps to The Guess Who, one of Canada’s most famous offerings of the late-1960s/early-1970s and there is no doubting their playing skills.

The 12-track album is packed with effervescent guitar work and dynamic drumming that accommodate but never overwhelm Trujillo’s perfect, warbling vocals. This is a guy who can scream with the best of them, yet he possesses a range, from gravely-bass to high-pitched tenor, that is quite exceptional and very potent. The amount of air guitar and foot-tapping that this album instigates should give you a hint as to its superior quality, the ‘blame’ for which, as stated earlier, must be laid at the door of Mr Chycki.

Interestingly, this is the first (self-funded) album produced by the band that does not feature Spanish song titles. It suggests that Eldorado has grown up and matured into a world rock centrepiece, from which it is going to be exceedingly tough to dislodge it.

The band used to sing strictly in Spanish, until they met Richard Chycki, who insisted that they record their second album, Golden, entirely in English. It was a good move. In fact, listening to Trujillo’s vocals, you would find it hard to believe that these guys could only speak ‘schoolboy English’ less than half a decade ago.

There has been a line-up change, in that Andres Duende replaces Nano Paramio. However, capable of laying down some remarkably strong and rhythmic riffs, along with phenomenal solo licks, you would believe that he has played with the band forever. Messrs Sanchez and Planelles perform the fills with such fluency that they can hold their own at any time during Duende’s solo diversions.

The result is a luscious, yet totally authentic energy that seems to carry the band to fresh heights with every track listened to. On the personal front, I think that I would love to see this band live and in person. Its vibrancy would be infectious and, with an extensive live act backdrop behind the band, arising from a recent 14-date US tour, exposure to both Canadian and Australian audiences and a growing UK and pan-European following, Eldorado clearly has a strong future.

Antigravity Sound Machine is a brilliant new album of original, yet traditional bluesy sounds. The album even includes an instruction booklet of how to create your own anti-gravity machine. Most useful.