Initially, Rodrigo y Gabriela appears as two Latino, street side flamenco guitarists, each wielding only a single classical acoustic guitar to match his or her partner’s.  In reality, Rodrigo Sanchez and Gabriela Quintero comprise a premier Irish duo whose instrumental profusion of timbres reaches somewhere into the dozens.  Ok, so they only relocated to Ireland from Mexico after hearing of its hospitality to wayward musicians. Confused?  That, along with shock and awe, is the standard emotional reaction to their technical talent.  And though a critic would be considered crazy to question their talent, their originality is predominantly met with heavy skepticism.  Rodrigo y Gabriela’s newest album 11:11, released on September 7th, is a tribute record featuring eleven songs, each of which pays homage to a different influence. Unlike their previous works, this effort suggests that the duo is making efforts to progress away from covers and towards innovative songwriting.

It’s not that I have ever deemed the pair uncreative.  Their interpretive covers hardly regurgitate the original artist’s sound.  Their rendition of “Oogie Boogie’s Song” from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas first familiarized me with the combo.  I had always regarded that track to be the film’s creepiest song, and the speed and dexterity in the twosome’s cover proved to be equally terrifying.  Their ability to translate classic songs from classic artists, such as Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” and Metallica’s “Orion”, onto classical guitars really does compound the “classicity” rather than overindulge in it.  But a vast technical range is the only artistic range Rodrigo y Gabriela has hitherto mastered.

11:11, while admittedly an homage to their influences, demonstrates Rodrigo y Gabriela’s potential as innovators rather than imitators.  Each song on the band’s third album (or fourth including their rerelease of 2001’s Foc), was composed in tribute to an artist who had inspired the duo back as struggling guitarists in their native Mexico City.  The opening track “Hanuman,” for example, pays reverence to the Carlos Santana’s highly melodic ditties.  One detects thrash metal influences like Metallica and Megadeth in “Logos”, which rhythmically resembles the intro to Metallica’s “Unforgiven,” and “Triveni.”  The climax of the album is the Astor Piazzola influenced track “Hora Zero,” on which the pair best exhibits their formidable chemistry.  While Sanchez consistently fires off several notes a second throughout the track, Quintero subtly keeps pace with his quickening melody.  The song culminates into an epic chord duel between the pair, evoking the solo battles Dave Mustaine and Marty Friedman frequently waged as guitarists in Megadeth.  The duo also pays respects to the late metal legend Dimebag Darrell on the track “Atman,” which guest stars American metal and jazz guitarist Alex Skolnick.

But had Rodrigo y Gabriela only been influenced by 80’s death metal, the couple would never have brandished classical guitars. Tracks “Savitri” and “Santo Domingo,” inspired by pianist Michael Camilo, embrace a distinctly Flamenco style. Though considerably slower-paced, “Chac Mool,” which shares its name with both an ancient Mayan statue and a Carlos Fuentes short story, provides a nice transition between the most aggressive tracks on the album, “Hora Zero” and “Atman.” The record also assumes elaborately progressive characteristics. “Master Maqui,” guest starring the flamenco duo Strunz and Farah and reputedly influenced by Paco De Lucia, gives off a Transiberian Orchestra feel, and the album’s eponymous and final track, “11:11,” channels Pink Floyd.