Santo Rostro to Release Después No Habrá Nada on March 10; Preorder Available

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 10th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

santo rostro

Okay, so, you’re probably going to notice pretty quickly the spaciousness in Santo Rostro‘s new single, “Telarañas,” what with all that cavernous echo and reverb tonality, vocals calling up from the mix and so on. Killer, right from the moment the song bursts in just when it should. As the Andalusian trio bring it forward through its utterly-consumable sub-four-minute run, you’ll notice that that space that feels so open at the beginning of the song has begun to fill up. By the end of the track, it becomes a full-on wash of clearheaded atmospheric heavy psych, pushing forward in a way that reminds me of bands like Arc of Ascent, who’ve mastered the art of bringing together grounded groove and lysergic effects plunge. The band’s fourth album — first I’ve heard, I’ll say outright; I ain’t perfect and I’m just about never Johnny Groundfloor — is called Después No Habrá Nada, and with the unveiling of the opening track today and the launch of preorders comes confirmation of a March 10 release through Spinda Records, Discos Macarras and LaRubia Producciones.

Yes, this is another post about Spinda engaging in a multi-label conglomerate to get behind a new release. Also yes, I recognize that Spanish imprints have been doing this for years, and that all three involved parties here — four if you count the band, which it’s fair to do — are based in Spain, but the last few weeks have seen Spinda making announcements that broaden this ethic to other places in Europe and beyond, and I’ll gladly reiterate that I think it’s a good thing.

Perhaps you don’t give a shit about any of that and just want to rock the tune and see if you’re interested. Go for it. But while you do, just keep in the back of your mind the sort of team ethic and extended reach that’s possible when independent labels like this work together. Teamwork, dream work, and all that. Then blow out the airlock and get ready to launch into open cosmos because that’s pretty much where this one goes.

Enjoy:

Santo Rostro Después no habrá nada

‘DESPUÉS NO HABRÁ NADA’ by Santo Rostro. Out 10th March 2023.

PRE-ORDER (10th Feb): Santo Rostro / Discos Macarras / LaRubia Producciones / Spinda Records

Spanish psych-doom rockers SANTO ROSTRO are back in business with their 4th studio album ‘Después no habrá nada’ – to be released on 10th March 2023 via Discos Macarras, LaRubia Producciones & Spinda Records, although the single “Telarañas” is coming out on 10th February. The pre-order for vinyl, compact discs and digital editions starts that same day.

Andalusian power trio returns with a dark-psych rock album, with long tracks including complex instrumental developments, processed atmospheres and a dirty sound plenty of echoes, different modulations and occasional synths.

Many things have changed in SANTO ROSTRO since they put out ‘The Healer’ in 2017, and this is obviously reflected in this new album. ‘Después no habrá nada’ is the result of a more mature band, with thousands of kilometers touring both Spain and EU on their back, several TV appearances and a couple of stand-alone video-singles – and everything 100% DIY.

This way, we find ourselves with a more balanced and determined sound, with a tremendous solid and seamless rhythmic base, powerful and organic at the same time, with a dance of tempos that accelerate and slow down at the right time – there’s no clapperboard in here.

In ‘Después no habrá nada’ you’ll find from doom to sludge, with high doses of progressive metal and even Andalusian heavy psych. It could be understood as a great mix of bands such as Viaje a 800, Adrift, Oransi Pazuzu, Mastadon or Russian Circles, but with an imprint that only SANTO ROSTRO has. This new album is a kind of a personal delirium and hangover; with some rehearsal room taste and accumulated fatigue.

The album was produced by the band itself; then recorded and mixed by Raúl Pérez at La Mina (Spain); and mastered by Mario G. Alberni at Kadifornia Mastering (Spain). Behind the artwork is The Braves Church, based on photographies by Manu Rosaleny.

‘Después no habrá nada’ comes out on 10th March 2023 through Discos Macarras, LaRubia Producciones and Spinda Records in the following editions:

Digital
300x CD Digipack
150x Black Vinyl
150x Orange Translucent Vinyl

TRACK-LIST:
1. Telarañas
2. Carcasa Digital
3. Aire
4. Matriz
5. Después no habrá nada

SANTO ROSTRO:
Miguel Ortega: guitars
Antonio Gámez: bass, vocals
Alejandro Galiano: drums

http://www.facebook.com/santorostrodoom
https://instagram.com/santorostro
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnN3cdd5mamBgzd5aG79tEA
https://santorostro.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/discosmacarras
https://www.instagram.com/discosmacarras/
https://discosmacarras.bandcamp.com/
https://www.discosmacarras.com/en/

https://www.facebook.com/LaRubiaProducciones/
https://www.instagram.com/larubiaproducciones/
https://larubiaproducciones.bandcamp.com/
https://www.larubiaproducciones.com/

Santo Rostro, “Telarañas”

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Les Nadie to Release Destierro y Siembra on Multiple Labels

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 8th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

I was not 24 hours removed from recommending this band to a friend who had just put me onto Black Sky Giant‘s new album as a candidate for the current best outfit in Argentinian heavy. A few years back, I might’ve said Certainly there are other candidates, but Les Nadie‘s Destierro y Siembra (review here) hit a nerve like few debuts do and particularly coming from a duo had a real sense of live chemistry without giving up production value. Just killer stuff. The kind of thing that maybe at least four labels would want to get behind for a proper release.

Well wouldn’t you know, that’s exactly what’s happened. Spinda Records sent the announcement below, but Psychedelic Salad in Australia, Echodelick in the States, and Dirty Filthy in the UK will also be giving a push. Psychedelic Salad and Echodelick are no strangers to collaborating (the same may be true of Dirty Filthy, I honestly don’t know) and you might recall Spinda‘s last roster-add was Bismut (info here), which was in collaboration with Lay Bare in the Netherlands. Shit is awesome, is all I’m saying. More collaboration. I don’t know what that does for the logistics of distribution, let alone anyone who works for a distributor outside the given network of ones involved in a given release, but it feels like a cool idea as a way to mitigate shipping costs to different regions while, again, everybody gets another voice behind promotion. Everybody wins.

In this case, Les Nadie do too. Their debut album will have four homes instead of just one, and there you go. Also, I think it’s hilarious that the glut of links in between the announcement text and the Bandcamp embed takes up more space than either that text or the player. You have to get your laughs where you can.

From Spinda via the PR wire:

les nadie

Spinda Records – Argentinian psych-shoegaze band Les Nadie joins the family!

As many of you, we usually discover new music thanks to different magazines, websites and podcasts… Well, back in July 2022 we were reading a review of the debut album of an Argentinian band whilst we were listening to their songs, and we simply loved it. Immediately after, we contacted them with a proposition: to reissue that album on physical format, as it was available only on digital.

That band was the power duo Les Nadie, originally formed in 2018 by two young lads that, inspired by their predecessors such as Los Natas or Los Antiguos and the vast emptiness of the desert and the northern winds of their region, started mixing heavy riffs with other passages much calmer and reverberated, getting sometimes even very close to shoegaze and psych rock.

Les Nadie joins now Spinda Records in order to finally reissue on physical format that debut album that they self-released last year. And we’ll do it in collaboration with our friends at Psychedelic Salad Records (Australia), Dirty Filthy Records (UK) and Echodelick Records (US). ‘Destierro y Siembra‘ is the name of this awesome album, and it will be out (including some surprises) this Spring!

https://www.facebook.com/lesnadie

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/ERECORDSATL
https://www.instagram.com/echodelickrecords/
https://echodelickrecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.echodelickrecords.com/

https://www.facebook.com/psychsalad/
https://www.instagram.com/psychsalad/
https://twitter.com/psychsalad
https://psychedelic-salad.com/shop/

https://www.facebook.com/dirtyfilthyrecords/
https://www.instagram.com/dirtyfilthyrecords/
https://dirtyfilthyrecords.bigcartel.com/

Les Nadie, Destierro y Siembra (2022)

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Bismut Sign to Spinda Records; Third Album Coming Soon

Posted in Whathaveyou on February 2nd, 2023 by JJ Koczan

This is badass both for band and label, and here’s why. For Bismut, the Nijmegen-based far-far out explorers whose latest LP, Retrocausality (review here), was released in 2020, they get another spot for their third record without having to give up the prior working relationship with Lay Bare Recordings, based in the band’s home country of The Netherlands. Automatic win. For Spinda, it might be even better, because it finds the label, who’ve been so dug into the Spanish heavy underground specifically, branches beyond Iberia in reach for the first time signing a band. And better, it’s a good band. And they’re a good fit on that increasingly diverse label roster. Nobody here loses. Even Lay Bare gets another hand in promotion out of it. Another voice shouting into the void wash of releases isn’t nothing. Hell’s bells, why doesn’t this happen more often???

Alright then:

Bismut Spinda Records

BISMUT joins Spinda Records!

We are so excited to share with you all that Dutch rockers Bismut are joining the Spinda Records family to put out (together with Lay Bare Recordings) their long-awaited third studio album this Autumn.

Back in October 2022 whilst we were at Tabernas Desert Rock Fest in Almería (Spain), Roberto Lucas of DenpaFuzz told us not to miss a Dutch band called Bismut. We had no idea who the hell they were, but we trusted him. And these guys did something pretty simple: they played the best gig we’ve seen in many years. And we fell in love immediately! Right away after the concert, we went to merchandise stand, picked up their second studio album ‘Retrocasusality‘ on vinyl (what a beauty released by our friends atd Lay Bare Recordings) and the chatting for a couple of hours while we were watching some gigs – there was a connection! Over the following weeks, we bought the last copy on vinyl of their debut album ‘Schwerpunkt‘ (again released by this amazing Dutch DIY label) and we introduced them to some Spinda Records “mandanga” like Moura, Viaje a 800, Híbrido, Gambardella and a few others. We felt comfortable so at some point we started talking about the possibility of working together with Lay Bare Recordings for their third studio album and here we are…

Stay tuned if you like prog rock, doom, metal, stoner, jazz, heavy psych and hard rock. What these guys from Nijmegen (The Netherlands) do is a mix of all the above and it’s awesome! They’ve played in many different venues as Into The Void, Zwarte Cross, Sonic Whip, Stonerfall, Yellowstock, Desert Fest Antwerp, Alterna Sounds Fest, Krach am Bach, Dunajam, Tabernas Desert Rock Fest or Psychedelic Network Festival.

https://www.facebook.com/bismutband/
https://instagram.com/bismutband
https://bismut.band/
https://bismut.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

https://laybarerecordings.com/
https://www.facebook.com/laybarerecordings/
https://www.instagram.com/laybarerecordings/
https://laybarerecordings.bandcamp.com/

Bismut, Retrocausality (2020)

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Ajeeb Sign to Spinda Records; Refractions Out March 29

Posted in Whathaveyou on January 24th, 2023 by JJ Koczan

One does not envy either Canary Islands trio Ajeeb or Spinda Records, which sent the announcement below, the process of coordinating a release across 10 record labels. It’s hard enough with one, two, involved, and the advantage of having a bunch covering different locales is, duh, wider distribution for the artist, but the tradeoff of who gets what when and when a record is coming out, my goodness. If even one person is an asshole — and I don’t know most of these labels personally, but my inclination is to assume that people passionate enough about underground music to help release it generally aren’t assholes — the whole thing could derail.

Nonetheless, Ajeeb‘s second full-length, Refractions — not to be confused with the Lowrider album of the same name — is part of a strong upcoming year for Spinda (not that I’ve seen the schedule or anything) and will see release with a firm March 29 arrival date. There’s no new audio as of now, but you can hear the band’s punk and noise rock-informed take on heavy with the stream of their debut LP, Toss and Turn, which came out in 2020, on the player at the bottom of this post.

Signing announcement follows:

AJEEB

***SPINDA RECORDS – NEW BAND ANNOUNCEMENT***

Today is a good day! We are so happy to share with y’all that Canary Island alt-rock and shoegaze power trio AJEEB is joining our family. We’ve been following them since the very beginning and there’s no better way to do this than with a new album.

‘Refractions’ will be out on March 29, 2023 via Spinda Records in collaboration with Violence In The Veins, Quebranta Records, Noizeland Records, Hey Boy Hey Girl, Bandera Records, Naife, Hombre Montaña, Clever Eagle Records (US) and The Ghost Is Clear Records (US).

First single (+ pre-order) is about to come out, so keep an eye on these guys.

Photo: Daniel Fleitas

Ajeeb are:
Cucho Segura: Guitar + Vocals
Sara Gdm: Bass
Rafa Pacheco: Drums

http://facebook.com/ajeebmusic
https://www.instagram.com/ajeebmusicband/
https://soundcloud.com/ajeebmusicband
https://ajeebmusicband.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

Ajeeb, Toss and Turn (2020)

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Moura Self-Titled Reissue Due Jan. 10; Preorder Available

Posted in Whathaveyou on December 1st, 2022 by JJ Koczan

While I’ve got your attention and we’re talking about Galician-folk-infused psych rockers Moura, here’s a friendly reminder not to neglect their 2022 sophomore outing, Axexan, Espreitan (review here), before you finish considering what are your favorite releases of the year. The focus here is on the preceding 2020 self-titled debut (review here), which is being reissued, and that too is a gem, but one way or another, the work they’re doing is well worthy of more attention and consideration than I’ve seen it get to-date. I know, starting the full-on hype machine for a record so dug into its own world isn’t overly likely, but god damn this band make some gorgeous noise. Okay, I’ll stop.

Spinda Records has preorders up for a new pressing of Moura‘s Moura, and as far as I’m concerned that’s enough of an excuse to talk about the band again or at least issue the above nudge, but you have to believe me when I tell you that I genuinely think listening to this band, really putting yourself in the headspace and engaging with their work, despite the language barrier, will improve your lot, and I promise you I don’t say that kind of thing if I don’t mean it.

Okay. Here’s the link and whatnot. Both records are streaming at the bottom:

moura moura

MOURA – ‘Moura’ Reissue

Preorder: https://spindarecords.com/product/moura-moura/

Moura’s debut album ended 2020 as one of the best ones of the year for a multitude of specialized media, both Spanish and international. Despite being released three weeks after the first lockdown in Spain and not being able to play it live, such was the impact that it ended up selling out in a few months with a previously unknown mix of psychedelia, progressive rock and Galician folklore.

Completely out of print since then and with the publication in May 2022 of its successor ‘Axexan, espreitan’, the avalanche of messages received asking for a reissue has been such that there was no other option but to press it again, and here it is.

It is a limited edition of 300 hand-numbered copies equally divided into clear green and standard black. Shipments will take place from next January 10, 2023, although they can already be pre-ordered at spindarecords.com.

Moura on ST:
Diego Veiga (guitarra, voz)
Pedro Alberte (baixo, voz)
Hugo Santeiro (guitarra, voz)
Fernando Vilaboy (órgano Hammond, sintetizadores)
Luis Casanova (batería, percusións)

https://www.facebook.com/moura.banda/
https://www.instagram.com/moura.banda/
https://eiradamoura.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

Moura, Moura (2020)

Moura, Axexan, Espreitan (2022)

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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Marçal Itarte of Maragda

Posted in Questionnaire on October 5th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Marçal Itarte of Maragda

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Marçal Itarte of Maragda

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I put my efforts to combine my passion for music and mountaineering with my family life and a part time job.

Describe your first musical memory.

I remember my brother playing a Metallica cassette everywhere. It was on at home, in the car… One day our mother asked what was that radio show on the radio, because there were no adds, no one speaking… she was driving us to school. It was not a radio show it was The Cassette. Again.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Probably the best memories are that shows that one plays or attends that they end up being magic.

I have a very special memory of a Motorpsycho show so many years ago. At that moment I didn’t know the band yet and I was totally mesmerized, had goosebumps and I was sober. I don’t remember any show ever since where I had that feeling. That one and Tool live in Lisbon was also memorable!

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I have always played music or recorded it in the most technical approach, and I was convinced it was the best way to do it. One day I realized I wasn’t doing well, I wasn’t putting to much of my thoughts and not so much of my heart.

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

I guess it’s a never ending journey of exploration. For some might be refining a certain way to play certain instrument or style, for other maybe it’s experimentation with new ways of expression, or maybe some sort of creative freedom one reaches after many years of creating stuff. At the moment I am feeling motivated into learning drumming and finding new sounds.

How do you define success?

I think something is successful when it meets the objectives you made that for, doesn’t matter if it’s a random casual objective or a very ambitious one. It could be playing drums today, or it could be finishing a song and feeling satisfied with the result. It could also be respecting your decision of having a rest day and actually rest!

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

I have seen so many things that I wish I wouldn’t. I am a social worker and I have seen some hard lives and injustice. More personally, I‘d say I wish I didn’t have seen myself in some situations in the past.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I would like to build myself a house.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

I am not sure if I understand it as a function, or maybe a reason to be, but I like to think of art as a mean of transformation.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

I am putting my efforts into a change in my career.

https://www.instagram.com/maragdaband/
https://www.facebook.com/maragdaaa
https://maragda.bandcamp.com/

https://www.instagram.com/spindarecords
https://www.facebook.com/SpindaRecords
https://spindarecords.bandcamp.com/
https://www.spindarecords.com/

Maragda, Maragda (2021)

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Fuzz Forward Post “She Comes” Visualizer; New Album in 2023

Posted in Bootleg Theater on August 11th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

fuzz forward

Barcelona-based heavy rockers Fuzz Forward posted the single ‘She Comes’ on Aug. 5 and have a needle-on-record (plus some other psychedelic whathaveyou) visualizer to accompany. As to what record is playing, I’m not entirely sure. The mid-paced, mostly mellow ’90s groover — prevailing vibes of Soundgarden, Alice in Chains — has not yet seen a physical pressing that I know of. It follows May’s “Shout to Forget” as a herald of the Spanish four-piece’s sophomore full-length, which is due to release in 2023 with the not insignificant backing of Spinda Records, Red Sun Records, Discos Macarras and Diablero Music Records, but I haven’t heard of that record being pressed yet if it has been — I could be entirely wrong here, of course — but one can hardly call the visual inaccurate since when you put on a record and listen to it, that’s what it looks like. Fair enough.

The song is, of course, the focal point here rather than the video itself, and with Juan‘s coolly crooned lines and the steady instrumental fluidity behind him — live sounding but not overwrought or trying too hard, laid back in the way it wants to be — “She Comes” is about mood and structure alike. Its chorus wants a sing-along, but there’s breadth enough that as it moves through its ultra-grunge midsection into the more spaced-out reaches that follow, the shift is smooth enough to hardly notice it’s happening. This speaks to the intentionality of Fuzz Forward after their 2018 first album, Out of Nowhere (review here), and 2020’s acoustic Revolve EP, the band pushing themselves forward, expanding their sound and progressing as, ideally, they would. In this way, it’s mission-accomplished for the single in building anticipation for the new album — let alone the visual tease for such a thing — when it might surface in the coming New Year.

I asked for a quote about the song, and Fuzz Forward‘s Juan and drummer Marc Rockenberg — the band is completed by guitarist Caio Pastore and bassist Alexander Romero — were kind enough to give background insight on “She Comes” as well as an update on when the next LP, whatever it’s called when it’s actually ready to be pressed, will surface.

Please enjoy:

Fuzz Forward, “She Comes” official visualizer

Marc: “I came up with the idea for the song about four years ago. Wanted to go to some yet unexplored territory for the band with it. Do something different and completely new for us but that at the same time didn’t sound like a total departure from what FF is and sounds like. A song with some of Fuzz Forward’s key elements (like the ’90s influence and riffing) but with a different vibe, atmospheric but not in the spacey sense but more emotionally. I believe we achieved that and I’m very proud with the final result of She Comes.”

About the lyrics Juan says, “SHE COMES talks about inspiration, genius, daemons or the muses, you name it, and tries to describe those moments when music intoxicates our ideas, senses and limbs.”

Marc: “We recorded She Comes and Shout To Forget in two days, with Dani Salat as a producer in his studio. We had been playing these two songs live for quite some time so it was pretty easy and fast. For She Comes we decided to use synthesizers for the first time and that was to intensify the atmospheric part. We then added some layers of noisy guitars and that’s it.”

Marc: “The rest of the album will be recorded and mixed next October and we hope it will be released before the summer of 2023 with Spinda Records, Discos Macarras, Diablero Music Records and Red Sun Records.”

Marc: “We have written a lot of material since our debut album came out in 2018, we have around 30 new songs. We are now in the process of selecting the 10 songs that will make it to the album. We don’t want to do “Out Of Nowhere” part two. We have made a big effort to write the best songs we possibly can and also for them to be different from each other. Our goal is to create a very dynamic album which shows the different sides FF’s has. We don’t want to be stuck with a label, that’s one of the reasons why in 2020 we didn’t hesitate to release an all acoustic ep ‘Revolve’. Some people didn’t expect that and that’s fine. We just want to write songs that we are happy with and we are not afraid to go to wherever they take us to.”

Produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Dani Salat at Dani Salat Studio (Sabadell, Spain) in 2022.

(C) 2022, Fuzz Forward (P) 2022, Spinda Records, Red Sun Records, Discos Macarras & Diablero Music Records

Fuzz Forward:
Juan – Vocals
Alexander Romero – Bass
Marc Rockenberg – Drums
Caio Pastore – Guitar

Fuzz Forward, “Shout to Forget”

Fuzz Forward on Facebook

Fuzz Forward on Twitter

Fuzz Forward on Instagram

Fuzz Forward on Bandcamp

Spinda Records on Facebook

Spinda Records on Instagram

Spinda Records on Bandcamp

Spinda Records website

Red Sun Records website

Red Sun Records on Facebook

Red Sun Records on Twitter

Discos Macarras on Facebook

Discos Macarras on Instagram

Discos Macarras on Bandcamp

Discos Macarras website

Diablero Music Records on Facebook

Diablero Music Records on Instagram

Diablero Music Records on YouTube

Diablero Music Records website

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Arenna Announce Breakup

Posted in Whathaveyou on August 10th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

This is a band who will probably be more missed than they know. Spanish heavy psychedelic rockers Arenna formed in 2005 in Vitoria-Gasteiz, part of Basque Country in Spain, and have announced that they’re done and that their impending third full-length is called off. Whatever stage of making it they might have been in, be it writing, recording or piecing together material in some other way, the prospect of being denied a follow-up to 2015’s Given to Emptiness (review here) and their 2011 debut album, Beats of Olarizu (discussed here; review here) — both issued through the esteemed Nasoni Records — is a sincere loss for the listeners who’ve been waiting for its arrival, and I count myself among that number.

Immediately my head goes three different places upon seeing their short mic-drop of a breakup announcement — literally, “Arenna is over and the new album won’t see the light.” First, as noted, bummer. Second, never say never. If we have to used the past tense about them, Arenna were a band that still had a lot to offer their audience, in the progressive breadth of their material, the warmth of their heavy psychedelic tonality and the serene pastoralism of their atmospheres. Maybe they’ll never be convinced to get back together and finish off what could’ve been, or maybe they will. This is rock and roll and even the most shut of doors can potentially reopen. History teaches us this again and again.

But for now at the very least, Arenna are done. Their final recording was the single “Οιδίπους 70º30´S (Cuidaos del Enigma)” that was included as part of Spinda Records’ sprawling Grados. Minutos. Segundos. split 7″ compilation (featured here) encompassing some of the Spanish underground’s finest acts. Arenna certainly deserved to be featured there as they were, and if indeed their third LP never surfaces, their capstone track is both a promise unfulfilled and well placed in the company it’s keeping among acts who no doubt have taken cues from them along the way. Their Bandcamp lists a show in October, but Bandcamp has its own mind about these things. The last show Arenna played was July 7 at the local festival Korterraza in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

The yet-unmentioned third place my head goes with this announcement is to wonder what happened to make them want to stop at all. This was a vibrant, creative band, who seemed to have more in the works and more to say. Whatever their reason for cutting their tenure short — and calling it “short” is saying something for a band who were together for 17 years — they will always have left an ellipses where that record could have been.

Their brief post follows, as seen on socials:

Arenna

R.I.P.

2005-2022

Arenna is over and the new album won’t see the light.

Thank you to everyone who has been a part, helped and/or supported.

https://www.facebook.com/arennarock
https://www.instagram.com/arennarock/
https://arenna.bandcamp.com/
https://arenna.bigcartel.com/

Arenna, “Cuidaos del Enigma”

Arenna, Given to Emptiness (2015)

Arenna, Beats of Olarizu (2011)

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