Medina Azahara is one of the pioneers of the Andalusian rock scene, which combines elements of rock and Andalusian folk music. Initially, the type of rock in Medina Azahara’s cocktail was progressive rock heavily inspired by early Genesis. But with the arrival of guitarist Francisco ‘Paco’ Ventura in the late eighties, the focus shifted to hard rock and heavy metal, while increasingly highlighting the Arabic touches of Andalusian folk music. ‘Sin Tiempo’, their second album with Ventura, is probably the heaviest of the bunch and highly recommended if you approach the band from a heavy metal angle.

Stylistically, Medina Azahara has been a fairly effective blend of AOR, heavy metal and folk music for the better part of four decades now, with singer and sole remaining original member Manuel Martínez sounding like the epitome of an emotional Spanish singer. It is a mix of styles that works, but their albums tend to have four or five syrupy ballads too many to be fully enjoyable. But with ‘Sin Tiempo’ being barely 39 minutes long and ‘Sin Tiempo ni Sitio’ actually being quite a good ballad due to Ventura’s bluesy lead guitar work, it is actually one of their most consistent works yet.

Whether it was a deliberate attempt to appeal to the Spanish hard rock crowd or not, ‘Sin Tiempo’ starts with two of the most energetic rockers in Medina Azahara’s discography. Opening track ‘Niños’ borders on speed metal and really maximizes its impact by having very atmospheric, almost proggy start-stop riffing with Martínez wailing wordlessly in its incredible pre-chorus. The following ‘Hijos del Amor y de la Guerra’ is classic Spanish hard rock with its pulsating triplet riffing and the heartfelt vocal harmonies in its chorus. It rightfully became a live staple and would be my pick to represent the band’s sound to someone who has not heard them before.

The other staple from ‘Sin Tiempo’ is the midtempo rocker ‘Necesito Respirar’. While its synth-heavy intro is a bit too cheerful for me, Ramírez quickly draws the fairly simple song into more dramatic territory. ‘Todo Tiene Su Fin’ starts out sounding like it will be the darkest ballad on the record, but develops into an awesome theatrical rocker, while the fairly accessible ‘Junto a Lucía’ ends in a low-key, brooding groove that I could have used a few minutes more of. ‘Algo Nuevo’ is built upon a powerful interaction between Ventura’s heavy guitars and Pablo Radabán’s eighties-style keyboards.

Although Medina Azahara plays a mix of styles that is decidedly Spanish, albums like ‘Sin Tiempo’, its predecessor ‘…En Al-Hakim’ and their proggy self-titled debut album have the potential to cross over to an international audience. The musicianship is top notch, with especially Ventura and the thunderous drum sound of Manuel Reyes shining here and Martínez always goes all out vocally. The album’s limited length also allows the powerful rockers not to be buried by ballads. There are still three here, but the only one that makes the enamel melt from my teeth is ‘Solo y Sin Ti’. A great place to start exploring this interesting band.

Recommended tracks: ‘Niños’, ‘Hijos del Amor y de la Guerra’, ‘Todo Tiene Su Fin’