Spanish instrumentalists Reznik formed in 2005, and since the movie The Machinist was released in Spain in December 2004, it’s entirely possible the band — initially a four-piece, now a duo — took their name from Christian Bale’s character in that film, Trevor Reznik. Whether or not that’s the case, I don’t know, but the dates work out and I thought that movie kicked ass, so I’m going to run with it. If I’m incorrect and there’s some other significance to the band’s moniker, I’ll leave it up to the vast knowledge of the intertubes to correct my erroneous thinking.

Wherever they got their name, Didi (guitarra) and Lolo (batería) offer a ‘90s-influenced mix of noise rock and stoner groove, occasionally hitting a reference point of Fatso Jetson or some others from the Palm Desert scene, but usually relying on more grit than fuzz sonically. Of the 15 tracks on their first LP, El Mal (Alone), which follows two demos and a number of splits, not one of them is over three minutes long, which is probably for the best. What makes El Mal work is that it never really has time to get mired down in its sameyness. If Reznik were just jamming endlessly on the same riff for six or seven minutes, it might get tired really quick, but by the time a riff has worn out its welcome, à la later cut “Octiembre,” the song is over. It’s not a bad system they have worked out.

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If you haven’t heard it yet, and if you’ve got 12 minutes to kill and a hankering for a drum solo complemented by flamenco claps — and you know you do — Spanish trio Viaje a 800 have a new demo track posted over on their MySpace page that’s definitely worth checking out. If you’ve never heard the band before, their last album, 2007′s Estampida de Trombones, was frickin’ great, and I’d recommend that as a starting point for sure.

There’s a lot going on in the new song, which is called “Oculi Ómnium in Te Spérant, Dómine,” from laid back stoner grooves à la Monster Magnet to far out guitar-led psychedelic jamming well suited to their free-form style. I don’t know if “Oculi Ómnium in Te Spérant, Dómine” is set to be included on an upcoming album or what, but it rules, so we can only hope it makes it onto plastic in one form or another. For now, free digital listening isn’t a bad way to go.