Travo Stream Astromorph God in Full; out Friday
Portuguese heavy psychblasters Travo will release their second full-length, Astromorph God, this Friday through gig.rocks! and Spinda Records, furthering a regional/generational sonic emergence on the Iberian Peninsula that you neglect at your peril. Marked early by synthesizer sci-fi grandiosity, it is a cosmos-revelry vision of psychedelia that proliferates from post-intro opener “You Won’t See Me,” which picks up from the minute-long “Omens” and shreds, shreds, shreds the skies above it over the course of its five-minute run, a steady push of bass and some Roky Erickson/George Harrison stuff happening there too amid the frenetic kosmiche rock that will come even more forward in the howls and twists and thrust of “Arrow of Motion,” a far-out space boogie that’s as much now as then between Slift and Hawkwind but thankfully has plenty enough shine to realize the track’s supernova payoff. Taking that arrow, aiming it at the center of the universe, letting fly.
What could be better for a scorched earth than barnburner psych? “Arrow of Motion” boasts ‘go’ worthy of comparison to Ecstatic Vision and I’m sure if you’re on the whole King Gizzard/Pigsx7 end of modern psychedelia there’s a lot here for you as well. “Faceless Ghoul” shoves open the doors of perception with broad leads and echoing, chant-ish vocals calling to mind some of Iberia’s melodic proggers, shades of the recently disbanded Atavismo or Viaje a 800 at their weirdest, but has both structure and direction, so is not a hodgepodge or any sloppier sounding than it should be — I mean, it’s a star-forming nebula of hydrogen and helium coming together with enough gravity to ignite nuclear fusion; you’re gonna break a few eggs — however unhinged its jam sounds before they Sabbath crash shortly before six minutes in and spend the remainder of the song’s total 7:31 in a drone before “Turn to the Sun” restarts the dance-to-this-you-freaks physical urging of “Arrow of Motion” with perhaps more lean into the chorus and a shred seems to
melt the track after about a minute and a half, and it’s nearly another minute before they’re back in the verse, undaunted.
Backed by the 15-minute closing title-cut, “Turn to the Sun” is penultimate on Astromorph God and it straddles the line between psychedelic shove and harsh noise, with the guitar meting out furious pulsations of noise as Travo propel themselves toward its finish. And as regards “Astromorph God,” buckle up. The four-piece seem to know at the outset they’re in for a longer ride, and while I wouldn’t call it patient exactly, like Sun Voyager on their most recent outing, Travo find a pocket in the verse in which to catch their breath before the next wormhole opens and sucks band and listener alike through to another change. To the band’s credit, they use nearly every second of “Astromorph God”‘s 15:16, and they don’t depart from the intensity — even the jammier end is dizzying — but they do account for the sprawl of longform work in repetitions and the exploration of the parts of the song itself, breaking to quiet after 10 minutes to start the last build in making the garage rock of an alternate dimension.
Euphoric and lysergic, Astromorph God positions Travo within the sphere of modern heavy underground psychedelia, and while Europe has always been somewhat tribalist in its designation of hotspots — Germany, Sweden, UK — it would be interesting to see Portugal and Spain force their way onto the map this decade as Greece did the last with a variety of acts and corresponding swath of sounds. I’m not saying Travo are leading that charge, but someone would need to and they certainly seem to have the energy for it if the music is anything to go by. A lot will come down to how much they tour, where and when, festivals, blah blah, but the spirit of victory resounds through this second Travo full-length, and it’s hard to imagine it not being embraced readily by those among the converted who take it on and maybe even a few heads out there who didn’t know they were weirdos to start with. Yeah, think of Astromorph God like a litmus test. “Must be this out of place on Earth to relate.” Little cardboard hand like you’re trying to get on the roller coaster.
Enjoy your ride. More info follows, including the preorder link, as per the PR wire:
It’s said that Travo is one of Portugal’s best kept secrets and it’s looks like it’s true. They’re young; they’ve already published two albums and one EP (and a the new one ‘Astromorph God’ which is on its way); and their live shows a real joy of head-banging, crowd-surfing and mosh pits. In their music you can find a fusion of heavy psych, progressive rock and trash-metal, with a significant garage attitude, without any type of filter. Yes, Europe is about to explode, with bands such as Slift, Maragda, Gator The Alligator, Kamggarn and, of course, Travo. It’s clear that on this side of the Atlantic Ocean there are thousands of fans of bands such as King Gizzard And The Lizard Wizard, Osees, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Elder, Wine Lips and Frankie And The Witch Fingers.
And although this new album by David Ferreira (bass, guitar), Gonçalo Carneiro (guitars, synths, percussion), Nuno Gonçalves (drums, percussion) y Gonçalo Ferreira (vocals, guitars, percussion, piano) won’t see the light until 17 November, it can be pre-ordered on both compact disc and vinyl editions through Spinda Records and gig.Rocks!, Spanish-Portuguese alliance under which this album will be out.
‘Astromorph God’ will be available on November 17 on digital, compact disc and on a double edition on vinyl, limited to 150 copies in turquoise color and 150 copies in standard black color, both with gatefold cover.
PRE-ORDER ‘ASTROMORPH GOD’: https://spindarecords.com/product/travo-astromorph-god/
On October 4 ‘Astromorph God’ Iberian tour kicks off. So far gigs at Uma Noite Irreversível, Festival NOVO and Sevilla Monkey Week have been announced already.
Travo live:
Nov 18 | Évora (PT) @ Black Bass Festival
Nov 25 | Seville (SP) @ Monkey Week
Dec 02 | Porto (PT) @ Woodstock 69
MORE ABOUT ‘ASTROMORPH GOD’
Track-list:
1. Omen
2. You won’t see me
3. Arrow of motion
4. Faceless ghoul
5. Turn to the sun
6. Astromorph God
Credits:
Produced by Travo and Budda Guedes
Recorded and mixed by Budda Guedes at Moby Dick Studios (Portugal)
Mastered by Clara Araujo at Arda Recorders (Portugal)
Artwork and layout by IMUNE
Published and distributed by Spinda Records and gig.Rocks!
