Now a quartet with drummer David J. Smith the only original member, Guapo have become firmly identified with the 21st century resurgence of Rock in Opposition avant-prog. Whether Guapo consciously considered themselves part of the RIO lineage from the start, they seem willing to draw from the dark side of that lineage on 2013's CD/DVD set History of the Visitation -- while incorporating myriad other musical elements into their proggy instrumental blend. The five-minute buildup of ominous orchestral tones and textures comprising the "Visitation" intro to 26-plus-minute album centerpiece/behemoth "The Pilman Radiant" culminates in a slow and eerie melodic fragment echoing not only a similar bit from "Jeweled Turtle," the leadoff track to Guapo's previous album, 2008's Elixirs, but also the equally unsettling start to "The Funeral Plain" from Heatwave, the 1986 album by darkly hued RIO co-founders Univers Zero. A deep irregular throbbing drone underpins sustained metallic oscillations -- as at least some of the album's seven guest musicians on a variety of reeds, brass, and strings are slowly buried by the onslaught -- before "The Divine Vessel" continues the suite with initially waltzy understatement; the Fender Rhodes of new keyboardist Emmett Elvin (replacing Daniel O'Sullivan) is supported by drummer Smith and bassist James Sedwards before guitarist Kavus Torabi burns his way into the arrangement with a sustained tone and deliberate ascending melodic line.

1		The Pilman Radiant: Visitation/The Divine Vessel/Wriggling Magnet/Mosquito
2		Complex #7
3		Tremors from the Future
4		Five Suns
5		King Lindorm

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