Posted in Whathaveyou on November 22nd, 2017 by JJ Koczan
Who doesn’t like a last-minute release before the holidays? Sure, Argentinian heavy psych naturalists Hijo de la Tormenta could probably wait until sometime early in 2018 to give the official vinyl version of their 2016 outing, El Manto de la Especie (review here), its public unveiling via Necio Records, but screw that. Everyone’s broke after the holidays anyhow. You might as well take advantage while the money’s already being spent. Plus there’s always way more coming out in January than December, because of everyone who decided to wait till the New Year.
And in most cases, if we’re being serious, that’s probably the way to go, but El Manto de la Especie came out last February, so while awesome that it’s getting a vinyl run of 300 copies and all that, it’s hardly the first time it’s being released. Still an occasion worth marking, and all the more if you’re into preorders, which are available now from the band’s Bandcamp page, linked below.
Also note the good news that they’re touring and will be recording their third long-player sometime in 2018. One to keep an ear open for, to be sure:
Hijo de la Tormenta – El Manto de la Especie – Vinyl
Hijo de la Tormenta announces the release date for the vinyl edition of their latest album, El Manto de la Especie (2016). Fruit of the collaboration between the band’s independent work and Peruvian label Necio Records, the 180 gr vinyl edition will be available starting on December 20th. International shipments can be arranged via the band’s Facebook, Bandcamp or E-mail: hijodelatormenta.rock@gmail.com.
Hijo de la Tormenta will finish their year with a release party at their hometown of Córdoba in Argentina, and will then tour Chile in January of 2018. The band will then proceed to hit the studios for their forthcoming third album sometime during the next year.
El Manto de la Especie tracklisting: 1. Rock para huir de una ciudad 04:57 2. 53 cosechas 03:40 3. El Abuelo 06:06 4. Manifiesto al Sol 08:36 5. Un mañana aún más glorioso nos espera 12:31 6. Recibimiento 02:04
Hijo de la Tormenta is: Juan Cruz Ledesma: Guitarra y voces Santiago Ludueña: Batería Guido Di Carlo: Bajo Fabricio Morás: Teclas
I don’t imagine I need to run down the history of Argentina’s heavy rock scene for you — from Pappo’s Blues through Los Natas and into modern fuzz and sludge like Demonauta — but suffice it to say the country’s contributions to the international sphere of underground rock and roll have been manifold, varied and forward-looking. They have been a part of the conversation for as long as the conversation has been happening. All this is as a preface to note that with their second album, El Manto de la Especie, Cordoba-based trio Hijo de la Tormenta are stepping forward to claim their piece of this storied real estate. They do so with six tracks and just under 38 minutes of laid back, tonally resonant, subtly jazzy heavy, earthy psychedelia, confident in its execution, organic in its presentation and warm in its effect on the listener.
When so inclined, as on “Manifiesto al Sol” or “El Abuelo,” the lyrics for which are based on a Walt Whitman poem, the trio of guitarist/vocalist Juan Cruz Ledesma, bassist Guido Di Carlo and drummer Santiago Ludueña — plus Fabricio Morás on keys for “Rock Para Huir de una Ciudad,” “53 Cosechas” and “Manifiesto al Sol” — are able to enact a formidable heavy roll, and they do so bringing Di Carlo‘s bass forward on “El Abuelo” to enact El Manto de la Especie‘s most engaging nods. The context in which it arrives is no less pivotal to the overall impression of the album, however, and spacious, airy keyboards and swinging cymbal work in the aforementioned “Rock Para Huir de una Ciudad,” which opens, help set an exploratory tone guided by sure hands.
Hijo de la Tormenta made their self-titled debut (review here) in 2014 and tagged it as “mountain psychedelia.” Their second album offers some similar vibe — you’ll note I called it “earthy” above — but feels less limited in its landscape, which is a sign of the growth in chemistry the trio have undertaken in the last two years. The scope of El Manto de la Especie is broader, in other words, but the flow is no less consuming, as “Rock Para Huir de una Ciudad” opens quietly and shifts into heavier push to make way for the start-stop fuzz of “53 Cosechas” and the jam-into-low-end-bliss of “El Abuelo,” which hypnotizes in its first half of its six minutes only to offer a knockout blow of bass in its second, all in quick succession.
Part of that the first three tracks are legitimately shorter than what follows — apart from closer “Recibimiento,” which is two minutes long — as both “Manifiesto al Sol” (8:37) and “Un Mañana Aún Más Glorioso Nos Espera” (12:31) range farther, but the feeling of continuity between the first three songs is essential to how the album overall leads the listener through its course, and the fluidity of groove that persists isn’t to be understated. Hijo de la Tormenta are in no rush, and their songwriting is patient, encompassing and varied in structure, but they’re not simply wandering for the sake of wandering either. That motion that pushes through one song into the next gives a linear feel, and the sense of design in the record’s structure, drawing the listener in early and establishing such a rich atmosphere of natural tonality, only speaks to the level of conscious intent at play on the part of the band. They make it sound effortless, and maybe it is since nothing here sounds forced in the slightest, but it’s an admirable outcome either way and it makes El Manto de la Especie a joy front to back.
And when they do make their way to “Manifiesto al Sol” and “Un Mañana Aún Más Glorioso Nos Espera,” the signal is pretty clear that they’ve arrived at the heart of the album. Aside from the fact that, together, the two tracks account for more than half the total runtime, the feeling as the lightly progressive beginning of “Manifiesto al Sol” gets underway is that the trio have been working toward this build. The rhythm calms somewhat before Ledesma‘s vocals come in with a melody that reminds of Been Obscene, and by then they’re more than halfway through. Keyboards again play a large role as they push into more weighted low end and a fuzzed-out guitar solo, bringing a chorus back late to finish, and quiet guitar noodling opens “Un Mañana Aún Más Glorioso Nos Espera,” going past two minutes before the first cymbal crash accompanies.
There are some trades between quiet and loud parts, but the core of El Manto de la Especie‘s longest track remains the instrumental chemistry between Ledesma, Di Carlo and Ludueña, vocals arriving after the band has shifted seamlessly through heavier thrust and atmospheric desert jazz, which quiets down at the midpoint only to pick up again, led by fuzz guitar, backed by fuzz bass, propelled by the drums as they hit the peak that serves as the payoff for the album as a whole. They end “Un Mañana Aún Más Glorioso Nos Espera” quiet and offer a pastoral epilogue in the acoustic-meets-e-bow “Recibimiento,” some late “oohs” providing the closer’s only vocals for a harmonized, folkish feel. Hopefully that’s something Hijo de la Tormenta are teasing perhaps as a signal of future progression, i.e., where they might be headed, but it also adds another element to El Manto de la Especie while retaining the ambience of the material preceding.
The clear maturity Hijo de la Tormenta showcase on what’s still just their second full-length is likewise encouraging as regards future prospects for staking their stylistic claim, but that shouldn’t undercut the value of what they’ve accomplished here either. With these songs, they both signal what they have to offer going forward and begin making that offering.
Hijo de la Tormenta, El Manto de la Especie (2016)
Posted in Whathaveyou on January 4th, 2016 by JJ Koczan
If the name isn’t familiar or you didn’t get to hear Hijo de la Tormenta‘s 2014 self-titled debut (review here), do yourself a favor and press play on the Bandcamp stream below of their digital 2015 two-songer, En Vivo en Buenos Aires, because the rich-toned psychedelic appeal is damned near immediate and it won’t take you too long before you decide to dip back to the record — also on Bandcamp — from there. The good news is they’re making a second one. It’s called El Manto de la Especie.
The bad news? They haven’t quite made it yet. According to their new bio — presented in its entirety below — they’re currently in pre-production for the sophomore outing, with a release planed for sometime in the first half of 2016. Golly. If I was the putting-together-a-list-of-anticipated-2016-releases type, I might want to make use of that information.
In case you do as well, here you go:
There’s a significant difference between stepping into a music scene and breaking through into one. Belonging in one or other category is mainly determined by the strength that defines that first encounter. That being said, it is easy to acknowledge Hijo de la Tormenta as a member of the second group. The three-piece band from Córdoba, Argentina, broke into the vast reservoir of music expressions with a unique and outstanding proposal, challenging with revelry traditional and somewhat obsolete ways to think and experiment music.
In a justified refusal to accept any limiting label to what they construct musically, the band found its own way to define and interpret its creations. Having been greatly inspired by the mountains of Córdoba’s Sierras- a place where they found a creative shelter and a certain conceptual and ideological meaning for their expressions- Hijo de la Tormenta thoughtfully perceived its musical creations as “psicodelia del monte” (mountain psychedelia).
Perhaps the most interesting thing about Hijo de la Tormenta is how wisely they build their music: a unique mixture between seventies rock’s purity and the unavoidable appropriation of its own time. One can accurately picture this odd combination when taking into consideration how the band is equipped: an exquisite selection of tube amps and vintage instruments that get reinforced through the power and definition of contemporary’s studio production. The music experience that Hijo de la Tormenta builds is an unusual dimension of time itself.
The wisdom and maturity behind the band’s music choices, aesthetics and management is a rare feature among independent bands of the country. It is hard to believe that the band has achieved such acumen with only two singles and an LP (Venado Records, 2014), in its catalog. Hijo de la Tormenta knows what it’s got to offer and wants to deliver it in the best possible way; its urgency is merely expressive. The result is the polished, meticulous and well-conceived work that effectively reflects the essential virtues of the band-roughness, forcefulness and conviction- in its self-titled debut album.
Hijo de la Tormenta’s first record was highly praised for its cohesion, its complexity and wit, the insightful way in which different genres and sounds come together in it, its unusual quality and its impeccable production labor — due to a long recording and mixing process and the experienced criteria of Gonzalo Villagra, bass player of legendary free-rock band Los Natas, in the final stage of the process. With vehemence, Hijo de la Tormenta´s revelry was accolade along its sensitivity and the moving dedication they have put into each one of its compositions. One must not forget that these are exceptional qualities on any debut album.
The enthusiasm gathered around Hijo de la Tormenta’s self- titled record, along with the band’s assertive self-management, was embodied in the impressive gigs they have organized since; their drive to push the limits of their proposal is restless. Hijo de la Tormenta shared gigs with great representatives of heavy and psychedelic rock, among them: Radio Moscow (USA), Yawning Man (USA), Jeremy Irons & The Ratgang Malibus (SE) and Hielo Negro (CHL). Naturally, the band also had solid presentations with some of the most important bands of Argentina’s underground music scene: Poseidótica, Humo del Cairo, Las Diferencias, among many others. Hijo de la Tormenta’s live presentations are undoubtedly one of its finest attributes, it is definitely the best way of channelizing the inner strength of the band’s compositions; a clear example of that visceral connection of sounds can be appreciated in the band’s latest production: two songs recorded in last year’s Club V presentation with Yawning Man. With forceful determination in federalizing and globalizing their ambitious proposal (and with the collaboration of collectives: Venado Records and Fauna Records), Hijo de la Tormenta was able to conduct several tours within the country, with aims to an upcoming summer tour in Europe.
Today, the band’s sophomore album is on a pre-production stage. “El Manto de la Especie” is a music platform aimed to place a critical standpoint from where to analyze societies’ future through a necessary review of the past and the present. The band’s devotion towards nature, and the healing powers it holds against the vicious capitalist system, has always been one of its most distinctive features; in El Manto de la Especie it pushes the band’s ambition in a search for a collective goal, an awakening of solidarity and communal action.
Challenging the high standards they have established for themselves, the band’s second production (awaited for the first half of 2016), will continue the task to propagate that seductive, immersive loudness, enhanced by the band’s appropriation of the essential elements of classic rock. Fostering new ways of constructing, producing, managing and sustain an exceptional mixture of sounds that stay true to its ideological and social aims, Hijo de la Tormenta keeps exploring the margins of its proposal with the same strength that has guided each of its productions. The band hopes to get results that will be as sincere as the premises that encouraged them.
