How many times do you look at a novel, marvel at its title, finger its glossy front cover, imbibe the intellectual tones of its author and then feel disappointed when it doesn’t live up to expectations set by the gripping blurb on the back? The same thing used to happen with albums in the pre-streaming age. You’d purchase a CD based on its artwork or the charisma of the band name, and maybe even decide to buy it based on the malevolence of the song titles if you liked metal music. Venezuela’s Changing Places in the Fire have a remarkable story, which makes you want to like them. Spread out across Latin America and Europe as emigrants from an authoritarian petro-dollar regime, they rebuilt the Caracas rock and metal scene through Zoom calls and online filesharing. Somehow, they also created their own brand of intricate prog rock that has few peers. This is a case where the music matches the story, and the artwork and song titles give you exactly what you want on an emotional level. Have you heard anything as confident and as unique in the rock world in recent years?
The ritualistic drum pattern and patient burrowing of the rhythm guitars in the intro to ‘The Epiphany Tree’ are like a modern take on post-punk with palm-muted riffs. You can hear at least three different genres pulling away from each other here from prog metal (the spacing and the guitar phrasing) to post-rock (the circular beats) and alternative rock (the sparkling melodies and husky voice). But this music is not something that should be deconstructed with such coldness. That would be a disservice to the mellifluous beauty and emotional power on display here. Daz Medrano’s voice is colourful and capable of weaving its lines through the intricate six-string patterns and bass textures like birdsong cutting through an autumn woodland. Listen to how the words ring out with a deliberate fragility, even leaving in some of the intakes of breath that are needed for such a heartfelt outpouring.
If there’s one thing that defines this album, it’s the focus on the vocals as the main melodic driver. Tesseract are the first band that comes to mind, but Medrano is closer to Maynard James Keenan in his range and rapture. The chorus in ‘Home’ could easily be about the guilt of leaving loved ones behind when emigrating to another country for reasons of expediency. “I could never cross the lines they set, but I can’t stay / Down the river to divine fate’s calling,” declares Medrano. The only criticism here is how hard it is to change your mindset away from expecting the two axemen to lead the way in glory with the prowess of the prog metal greats. But that’s not their role in track two. Their job is to provide the timbres for their singer’s melodies. They’re also adept at contributing to the multi-harmony vocals of ‘A Reason to Fall’, yet this is where we first hear them lay down the metallic riffing with intense palm-muted action. Now we’re in the territory of virtuosos with a cameo bass solo and expressive double-kick drums fattening the pocket grooves. Likewise, ‘The Fury and the Sound’ forewarns us in its song title that it’ll be a lively affair, and it’s a luminous piece of rock that holds the tension like Tool’s iconic ‘Sober’ single from 1993. A wonderful half-timing chorus helps to lock you in for the ride when you’re analysing the environment around you with curiosity. Glistening piano sprinkles from Alfredo Ovalles add to the bountiful scenery.
This is a band forged through the shared experiences of forced migration, the pull of memory, and the anguish of rebuilding life in foreign lands. Of course, the lyrical themes emerge organically. “The sound of change / What I’ll become to make it / I won’t deny the strain,” intones Medrano in ‘Black Oceans’. Emigrating to escape an oppressive regime is often overlooked on the micro level, especially the challenges of adapting to a new country. “Make yourself lest you’re nothing / Step off the train and you’re the other / All you have known now it’s over,” is the memory from ‘Learn to Die’.
A thunderous intro to ‘A Case Against the World’ leaves you clinging to the amp distortion in the hope they might let the guitars lead, but they launch the first verse with the spring of a bass groove. Is this when the music makes sense to the listener but also loses its element of surprise? It’s not a problem if you follow the melody of the words and reserve an ear for the fretless bass meanderings underneath the busy drums. But your metalhead instincts might create the illusion of frustration, and you’ll need to tame it to get the most out of this expressive prog rock, which contains enough moments of brilliance to persevere with the subtle complexities and abundant space. Can you see yourself gathering measures of water from the brook as you contemplate your predicament in ‘As If You Were Free’ under the beautiful heartache of the words? “Desire and loss / I’m not gonna break it / I’m not gonna waste it,” declares Medrano in a stanza worthy of Sade’s silky delivery and the quiet melancholia of Haken’s Ross Jennings.
It’s true that “changing places in the fire” is a better band name than “out of the fire and into the frying pan” or “banging your head against a brick wall”, but the meaning is clear. Life’s choices can often be the worst of both worlds, and you must pick the least damaging. How these Venezuelans created something as ambitious and textured as this record is a testament to the power of art, and to its ability to inspire people to push themselves beyond their limits, even when time is a luxury they cannot afford.
Verdict
Release Date: 24/07/2026
Record Label: Wild Thing Records
Standout track: A Reason to Fall; The Fury and the Sound; As if you Were Free
Suggested Further Listening: A Perfect Circle – Mer de Noms (2000), Taking Balfour – Dawn of Polaris (2022), Kingcrow – Hopium (2024)