IAH “IAH” Album Review + Stream…

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IAH

IAH – CD // DD

Necio Records – released July 21, 2017

Reviewed by Eric Layhe

 

Line Up:
Juan Pablo Lucco Borlera: Bajo
Mauricio Condon: Guitarra
José Landín: Batería

Hometown: 
Córdoba, Argentina

Tracklist:
Cabalgan Los Cielos                  (7:39)
Ouroboros                                    (5:16)
Stolas                                            (8:42)
Eclipsum                                      (4:36)
La Piedra Que Sujeta El Sol    (5:45)
Nuboj                                            (7:26)

 

                         IAH – Self Titled EP Demo

Post-Metal, especially Instrumental Post-Metal, is somewhat akin to walking a tightrope: if executed correctly, it can be a true wonder to behold. However, even the slightest misstep can spell disaster for the artist in question. One of the latest acts to walk this tightrope is Argentina’s IAH.

Post-Metal’s largest pitfall is that it can be a very difficult genre to perform while maintaining the interest of the listener. All too commonly, the music is tuned out, eventually being delegated to being “background music” after the listener sets their attention to something more gripping. Fortunately, IAH does an excellent job of making sure their music remains interesting in their debut album, adeptly shifting the feel of their music at the exact instant that the musical idea of the time would wear its welcome.

This album often feels like 3 friends jamming in their garage, and that is absolutely a good thing. An air of familiarity and camaraderie permeates this release- it lacks the disconnect between the listener and the artist that so many larger releases have. It really feels like IAH are sharing something with you and that you are simply hanging out with them, and this feeling definitely pans out in their favor.

Live Band Pic

The sections of this album that yield the biggest and best impact are when the band really lets loose: IAH feels, far and away, most comfortable when their amps are turned up to eleven, the overdrive is blaring, the guitar is detuned, and the drummer is holding nothing back. Approximately halfway through album opener “Cabalgan Los Cielos” the fuzz guitar is taken beyond the point of no return and the song opens up into an outright tremendous stomp that characterizes the band at their best: Loud, heavy, and downright punishing. This sensation is taken to its maximum in the first half of album high point “Eclipsum”, a showcase of world class riffs full of fuzz, wah, and bass chords.

Spacey, Post-metal is at its finest when the band lets loose, just as outer space is at its most interesting when one takes a look at the crushing gravitational forces of stars, supernovas, and black holes, and IAH is a band that certainly seems to be perfectly aware of this. Despite being rather new to the scene, IAH weaves a work that deserves plenty of attention in the metal crowd, and if there is any justice in this great big universe, these masters of musical intuition will receive that attention.

Band Logo

KNEI “Juventud de la Gran Ciudad” Album Review + Stream…

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KNEI

Juventud de la Gran Ciudad – CD (available May 13th, 2017) //

DD (released December 2, 2016)

Necio Records – CD released May 13, 2017

Reviewed By Santiago “Chags” Gutierrez

 

KNEI comes to us from Argentina, a country that has recently seen a resurgence in its music scene. Juventud de la Gran Ciudad comes courtesy of power trio Nicolas Lippoli (guitar/vocals), Mauro Lopez (bass), and Roberto Figueroa (drums). On just their second full length (La Puera del Sol being their debut back in 2011) they have already established a rather unique sound. What you get here is 70’s inspired classic rock that incorporates a well balance of psychedelic, blues and jazz-like touches.

 

Band Pic in the Studio

 

Their musical prowess shines through on first track, “Juventud de la Gran Ciudad.” Clocking in at over eleven minutes, it showcases their full arsenal of writing skills. It centers, as most good rock songs do, on a powerful riff and adds time changes, experimentation, varied rhythms, and a feel of improvisation. “Vidas Pesadas” follows suit with an unmistakable 70s/psych touch that turns into a fantastic jam session. “Rock de la Mujer” incorporates a bluesy touch, yet ends in wonderful fashion as KNEI playfully interact with their musical ideas. Three tacks in and the listener is already getting lost in the arrangements KNEI has on offer.

“El Inentendido” is yet another blues infused track with great progressions throughout that continue to showcase the bands ability to guide the listener through the architecture of their arrangements. “Los Demonios” follows with a straight-ahead rock approach that incorporates a galloping bass line bordering on doom. Progressive tendencies show up again on “No Te Asustes Ya Mas, Loco”, each member having a chance to shine at different points throughout the track. You can sense how the members have an almost telepathic relationship as they playfully seem to bounce ideas off one another.  “La Tumba” closes the album in glorious fashion, KNEI proving they undoubtedly belong among the higher echelon of current rock bands.

Every track on this record is egregious, KNEI having a knack for taking astounding musical ideas and yet achieving a smooth listening experience. Sung entirely in Spanish, this is still well worth checking out if Spanish is not among your linguistic skills. Lippoli providing an apt vocal style that fits in perfectly with what is going on musically. And what a musical journey it is. If this wasn’t released digitally at the tail end of 2016, it easily would be on my current 2017 “best of” list. ¡Provecho!

IAH – “Self Titled” Album Review + Stream…

Written by

IAH

IAH – released January 20, 2017

Necio Records – CD // Kozmik Artifactz – Vinyl // DD

Album Reviewed by Ric “Suisyko” Dorr

 

 

Location – Córdoba, Argentina

Band Members –  Bass: Juan Pablo Lucco Borlera (Orighen) // Drums: José Landin (S.A.D.E. – Fahrenheit – It Will Be the End) //

Guitar: Mauricio Condon (Pieles)

This first offering from IAH, a three piece outfit brought together, each with a pedigree of previous bands, and they have created something that shines bright from first note to last. Four tracks of instrumental bliss that the band has tagged as a combination of ambient/post-rock/stoner/metal siphoned through an experimental filter. An intriguing descriptor for sure and these are 25 minutes of some of the most coherent meanderings yet to throw those tags together.

Opening track ‘Cabalgan Los Cielos’ (Ride The Skies) has an almost-hidden fade in the beginning three seconds before the band enters with a nice even paced walk of resonating clear notes carried by a lumbering-thick bass line and a cadence from the drum-kit that fits perfectly. By the time the first power chord rings out at 1:40, you are already hooked for the ride and the smile that creeps across your face is one of sonic satiation. The spaced out flow for the duration is seamless from clear notes to distorted screams and back again as you can feel the twists and turns through the atmospheric coursing painted.

Live Band Pic

The last section shows that they can get as fast and hammering as the next, and are not afraid to do it to the fullest extent possible and then shifting back to that doom-heavy slowness and over-modulated purity of power, a slow-fading digital echo taking us into ‘Ouroboros’ with an almost spaghetti-western tone and progression.  Taps of cymbal ringing softly until another hit of snare and we’re off for the next round of instrumental hypnosis that has as many twists and turns and fills that feed off of each time shift effortlessly punctuating that this band as a unit are exactly  the same page and give the same 200% lacking with too many.

‘Stolas’ (Clothing) has a nice jazz-tempo beginning, those clear notes with a slight reverb edge tickle your ears as the time signature makes your fingers tap along involuntarily as the sing-song/stop and go tempo becomes your pulse as you move right along with every note, each speaking every word, never said but still heard. Each member is as solid as stone and flex and flow perfectly, never dropping a second and still maintaining that ‘live-in-the-studio’ feel that lets IAH deliver the goods. Closer ‘Eclipsum’ hits hard and heavy, thick and heavy from the first second and shows even MORE of the syncopational unity these three represent.

This EP had been released in January 2017 and there are two extra tracks available via the band’s bandcamp page. ‘La piedra que sujeta el sol’ (The Stone That Holds The Sun) that listens as the perfect “next song” after the end of ‘Eclipsum’ and is even MORE raw and ‘live’ sounding giving a majesty to their soundscape and when ‘Nuboj’ begins with those harmonic muted tones ringing out followed by the clarity of that sound of brand-new strings permeates the air, you can almost smell the difference and the next seven plus minutes wrap the entire take together with the ultimate mix of heavy and harmonic. Get ALL six of these songs in your library the very second you find them and share out to each person you come in contact with as they NEED to hear this as badly as you do even now and support them live if you get the chance… keep it LOUD!!