De Facto's studio career, despite its short run due to the fact that all their releases were issued at different points of 2001, was surprisingly varied. Their first official EP presented a Dub project focused heavily on sound and atmosphere experimentation, with a lot of layers used due to the fact that it was the only release to be made with actual studio production. The three tracks were short, but highly calming, enjoyable just for a quick listen. But despite the laid down spirit, it presented a lot of the ideas that made De Facto such an special and important band for the transition of the members into what would eventually become The Mars Volta. The latin influences, the atmospheric passages, the dialogue sampling at some points, the live jams that had a lot of mesmerizing technicality to them, and the overall chemistry between the members. And all those ideas would be even further expanded on the band's debut album, ¡Megaton Shotblast! This would come to be the place where all the members were given the chance to experiment on home studios, to expand their sound into a range of different influences that all lead to the creation of a unique and surprisingly varied album, where the Dub factor isn't the prominent element, just becoming one of the many elements used all around. In many ways, this project became the most evident place where people could track the many elements in atmosphere and influence that would become a part of future projects where Omar Rodriguez Lopez played a big role. It wasn't perfect or overly ambitious, it was just a group of people coming together to improvise in order to create some psychedelic delights that had a lot to offer with the layers that they were built upon, crafting highly enjoyable tunes. But after this point, what was to come?
In October of 2001, not long after the release of their first album, the band decided to re-issue their first EP under the name "How Do You Dub? You Fight For Dub. You Plug Dub In.", and one could see the leap that they had taken considering the quality of the rest of their catalog. Some songs presented here would have been expanded on their live performance, but on this state they stand as simple snippets from a band that would go onto fleshing out the concepts properly. Relatively short "songs", making up for a twenty minute experience, where the main ideas from the band can be felt, but not in a way on which they are done justice. Coaxial's version here shows the atmospheric emphasis of Ward, with some minor drum playing, Owen's haunting keys, and Omar's background bass. Madagascar could be cataloged as the "highlight" because its the one that manages to work the elements the best on one of the longest songs on the EP, with Agua Mineral feeling like an underwhelming follow up that at least presents the latin influences that the group was using on certain tracks. Defacto experiments with the sound and sample manipulation, Thick Vinyl Plate differs a lot from its live counterpart, Radio Rebelde feels more like a nice novelty with some ambient focus and dialogue samples, and the closer, which is also the longest song on the release, seems to try and implement transitions between different segments, but it ends up working on a pretty mediocre way, lasting longer than it should. Despite this being a decent release, it showed the early period of the band in studio and the leap that they had taken on their studio releases, and even more, with the live jams that they managed to pull off. After this in November of that same year, the band released what would become their last studio effort, and their follow up full length album to their debut: Legende du Scorpion a Quatre Queues.
In many ways, what characterizes this release compared to the other studio projects from the band is the fact that this could be cataloged as their more conventional Dub album. Sure, De Facto were labeled as a Dub band, but their music and onstage performances involved a lot of unusual aspects when it came to creating a psychedelic, packed, and dense atmosphere. Legende is no exception, but it sure is the release that seems to present the least amount of experimentation out of the four official studio albums by the band. It is much more laid back, with a mood that is maintained throughout the album (feeling more repetitive than Megaton in many ways, but that is not necessarily a bad thing), but it focuses more on the reggae aspects than it does the blending elements together to create something new within that formula (also considering that it has only one feature compared to the surprising amount of guests on their debut), and having more notable differences with the production used in the different songs but still managing to pull off another record where tunes flow well between them. However, De Facto's sophomore full length album still manages to persist on being a highly enjoyable experience.
The opener, Legend of the Four-Tailed Scorpion, uses the vocals from guest Michel Edward to create a sort of ambient that sets the tone of the entire album, backed up by one of the most atmospheric tracks from the band, where Owen's keyboard and Cedric's drums have the biggest presence throughout the entire track, with Omar's subtle bass lines feeling almost unnoticed on the background, just like the many details that Ward implements at every given moment (even introducing some latin percussion for a brief moment). However, the track feels somewhat unfinished, feeling as if more could have been done with the ideas presented over the course of the song. After a sudden ending, a short piece comes in setting up the tone for the next track, transitioning in what seems like an abrupt way, but still managing to work, into AMKHZ. In many ways, this track feels like a taste of what their live performances felt like. Short, layered, loosen, but heavy on the Dub aspect, with some minor sound manipulation from Ward. It feels like the kind of track that one can feel expanded and fleshed out to a bigger extent on a live performance.
And talking about live performances, what follows up is one of the two live tracks, and one of the definitive highlights of the album. Hoxadrine shows how impressive Legende is in the sense that the live jams feel almost indistinguishable in their execution and tone to the studio tracks. The main difference, of course, being that these live performances take their time to expand upon the ideas that are presented, fleshing out the concepts to a place where one can truly feel the potential. Hoxadrine is one of the songs that has a lot in common with the tracks presented in Megaton more than anything, but still presenting some interesting variation of the conventional Dub formula. The song feels dynamic and segmented, with parts where the tone and melodies take a subtle but noticeable change (felt more evidently on Owen's keyboards), while slowly implementing small elements until getting to the end of the track, where Cedric's vocals lead the track to its end. That all transitions into Muerte Inoxia, a studio track that feels as if tries to implement elements from the previous song into its own composition, pulling more focus on atmosphere due to Ward's heavy use of sound manipulation, and also presenting a nice break in the last segment of the song, but still feeling short and unfinished. However, that leads the way into the second highlight of the album, Vesica Pisces, an extension of the studio track seen on the first De Facto EP. While it doesn't present the studio production with the samples and vocals, it is still performed and expanded with a lot of grace. This particular live jam showed the ability of the band to evolve one small idea into one impressively relaxing and extended performance. Pulling a surprising amount of dynamic ideas with the sound manipulation offered here, with Ward's relaxing harmonica, Owen's psychedelic keys, Omar's now rhythmic bass, and Cedric's varied drum fills; all leading to a sudden ending, where the crowd cheers for the relaxing soundscapes that they witnessed.
The next studio track is presented as an alternative version of Cordova, one of the live jams seen on the band's debut. Shorter, more condensed, and with a heavier use of the production values to create more elaborated atmospheres with the keyboards and reverbed instrumentals. There is even an interesting vocal passage by Ward, which definitely feels as one of the stand out moments of the entire project. Despite all of these added pieces, the track doesn't get to the level of the live performances, feeling short and with an abrupt finale, making all of the added little details feel as nice novelties more than anything. That leads into the "original version" of 120E7, another composition already seen on the first official EP, with an alternative vocal work where Ward takes more presence vocally (interpreting what seems as the Omar background vocals on the EP version), and the field samples are also used to provide nice ambient to what is going on, with some minor percussion work at points. The similarities to the version on the EP are mostly on the instrumental side, but the other versions have much more to offer regarding their execution. All the elements here, taking into consideration that this is considered an "original version", feel much more well implemented on the EP versions, with placements and production that feel much more thought out and well put together. Finally, the closer of the album reintroduces Edward's vocals to end up things on a coherent way, with the album feeling as coming full circle, following up the instrumental ideas seen on the opener, just with more interesting use of the vocals right at the end.
One thing to take into consideration is the fact that Legende is a shorter album than Megaton, and as stated earlier, it doesn't have as much experimentation or variation as that project. The experimental/almost electronic variation of Dub is certainly unique, but it feel more like a collection of unfinished tracks than an album that is straight forward with its ideas, feeling somewhat rushed on the studio tracks. However, what might feel as somewhat highly repetitive ends up being a joy to listen to, a surprisingly consistent album that, specially with the live jams, show the high potential of all the members and the chemistry that was held between all of them. Sure, there is much more to take from Megaton regarding the elements that the members would expand in the future, but Legende still presents itself as a highly enjoyable album, being able to be put on the same level of Megaton just for how all the tracks made up for a coherent release.
And in that way, De Facto's short lived studio run came to an end. The band would keep performing onstage over the years (but not many recordings of those shows have come to light), even getting help from John Frusciante at some points. After that point, multiple statements of new material being elaborated came to light, but no actual end products have been revealed just yet. However, Ward's death in 2003 and Owen's death on 2014 have made reunions or recording of new material appear highly unlikely. Still, this little project from a creative group of members still lives on with the interesting material that they managed to craft, capturing a high energy and talent despite the relaxed and psychedelic soundscapes. That chemistry between the members felt so high, and Omar's ambition to come up with new material diving into different genres blending all sorts of influences was really noticeable, that in 2001 they implemented bassist Eva Gardner and drummer Jon Theodore into the known De Facto line-up to dive deep into a new sound, where all that was built on that short studio run gave light to a completely innovative era for all the members.
Definitely recordings that are worthy of being checked out.
Overall Rating: 7/10
Favorite Track: Vesica Pisces / Hoxadrine
Favorite Track: Vesica Pisces / Hoxadrine
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