This new Viaje a Ixtlán must be really good, and I say that not just because I dig space rock or because I dug the advance songs they threw out to the public ahead of time or whatever else, but because if I can be in as much of a fucking wreck of a state of mind as I am and still be like, “Wow, this is pretty cool,” then yeah, they’re clearly up to something. The Argentinian four-piece released the 2LP, or two-part, or double-album — I don’t really know, but each half has its own Bandcamp page — on May 20, and those two halves of Calma each comprise four tracks of sparsely-vocalized, synth-laden astro prog. I think it’s right on, and right now, I don’t think anything’s right on, so yeah, dig in. Both halves of the release are below streaming.

Karate chop:

Viaje a ixtlan lives in constant movement, through perpetual change, stepping out of our zone of comfort, researching and processing the sounds that enticed and influenced us.

Taking as a starting point dark and ambient musical passages, the band has developed a personal aesthetic where the typical song format fuses with the sonic experimentation and the electric volatility.

Starting this journey in 2013, the band surges from the necessity of Mariano Bertolazzi (guitars, synths and vocals) to defy the limits of his musical universe. This shapes the first album of the band: Vol. 1. The second album: Vol. 2 follows this steps and deepens them, taking the experimental approach of our first album further, enriching the sound with several layers of synthesizers and electric guitars unlike the first effort.

“Calma”, it’s the name of our new work, a double album where the tranquility and the fury find themselves face to face, leaving the listener in the middle of the ensuing storm.

The current lineup of the band is completed with Andrés “el Jeque” Raffo in Rhodes and synthesizers, Cherman in bass, and Lionel Fortunato in drums and electronic drums, Each of the 4 albums produced by the band is a leap in a different direction, embracing change as the only constant they have.

This ride is about advancing, proposing and changing. Defying the listener and inviting them to leave all behind.

Viaje a Ixtlán is:
Mariano Bertolazzi – Bass
Andrés “el Jeque” Raffo – Synth
Fernando Figueiras – Guitar
Leonardo Aldegani – Drums

https://www.instagram.com/viaje_a_ixtlan/
https://www.facebook.com/ViajeAIxtlan/
https://viajeaixtlan.bandcamp.com/

Viaje a Ixtlán, Calma I (2019)

Viaje a Ixtlán, Calma II (2019)

Argentina-based progressive heavy psychedelic rockers Viaje a Ixtlán have a new single out now as a name-your-price download. The four-piece band who formed in 2011/2012 depending on where you look had the prior single “Sueño de Agua” out in August, and “El Aliado” follows as a fellow precursor to a 2LP release that’s due out sometime soon. I’d guess that means next year, but you never know. Either way, the track has an experimentalist edge in its weirdo vocal effects, and as the band embark on this ambitious project, they do so with two albums behind them of adventurous prog that have built up to it. I’m not sure when the album will be out, but a name-your-price single, let alone two, is a good way to lead into it, and if “El Aliado” is giving a feel for the kind of open-minded sonic palette they’re working with, that should be a pretty wide swath they cover throughout the record.

An interesting song that seemed well worth sharing. Hope you dig it.

Info from the PR wire:

El Aliado is part of the upcoming double release by Viaje a Ixtlán. Each album is a side from the same coin, two faces of the same band during a process of reorganization. The songs from the first album, such as “El Aliado”, are centered around instrumental passages inspired by the krautrock from the late 60’s, where the melodic motifs are carried by layers of synthesizers, riding over bases of traditional rock using the repetition as a way of generating the sensation of a mantra, the stillness, the calm, leaving the listener alone with the flow of the music.

Music by Viaje a Ixtlán
Arrangements by Viaje a Ixtlán.
Recorded on Estudios Zar and Black House by Damian Colaprette between December 2016 and February 2017.
Mixing and Mastering on Estudio Black House by Damian Colaprette.
Produced by Mariano Bertolazzi and Andrés Raffo.
Artwork by Matías Ridolfi.

Viaje a Ixtlán lives in constant movement, in constant change, stepping out of our comfort zone in each step, experimenting and chewing out each sound that influenced us so much. Taking as a starting point instrumental and dark passages, the band has developed a personal aesthetic wheres the songs get fused with the sound experimentation and the electric volatility.

Viaje a Ixtlán is:
Mariano Bertolazzi – Bass
Andrés “el Jeque” Raffo – Synth
Fernando Figueiras – Guitar
Leonardo Aldegani – Drums

https://www.instagram.com/viaje_a_ixtlan/
https://www.facebook.com/ViajeAIxtlan/
https://viajeaixtlan.bandcamp.com/

Viaje a Ixtlán, “El Aliado”