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Atavismo - Desintegración CD (album) cover

DESINTEGRACIÓN

Atavismo

 

Psychedelic/Space Rock

4.01 | 24 ratings

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siLLy puPPy
Special Collaborator
PSIKE, JRF/Canterbury, P Metal, Eclectic
3 stars The Spanish band ATAVISMO emerged from the ashes of the stoner rock / heavy psych band Viaje a 800 and formed around 2013 in one of Spain's southernmost cities at Algeciras which is situated across from the UK occupied territory of Gibraltar and just across the Strait of Gibraltar from Tangier, Morocco. This Andalusian trio has made some waves in the prog community in recent years by developing a classic psychedelic space rock sound that find them in competition with that transition zone of Pink Floyd, you know those awkward years after Syd Barrett went crazy and before "Dark Side Of The Moon." In fact the band's name ATAVISMO is simply the Spanish word for the English word "atavism" which literally means "throwback."

The band consists of Jose Moreno aka Poti who handles guitar, mellotron, farfisa, theremin as well as lead vocals. Mateo performs bass and contributes backing vocals whereas Sanda Pow is the drummer but also contributes mellotron, farfisa and backing vocals. This debut release DESINTEGRACIÓN is mellotron paradise and therefore a fourth guest musician in the form of Curro Snortil was needed for yet more mellotrons! The result is a stoned out romp through sometime like in 1971 or so only upgraded with a modern production that allows each instrumental to stake out its proper sound turf and remain audibly enabled for the entirety of this 37 minute run. While some have stated that the album should be longer, i find the classic run length of albums of this type are more than enough.

DESINTEGRACIÓN consists of only four tracks with the opener and closer running over ten minutes long and the creamy filling of the album ranging from around seven to eight. The album gets off to a nice start with the sounds of what sounds like a swarm of galactic hornets slowly closing in as the audio becomes subtly louder and eventually ushers in the standard instruments of guitar, bass and drums. This is one of those jam band type albums that engages in psychedelic noodling to some degree but yet the compositions are developed enough and progressively charged to keep them out of the neurally dead section of the record store. Ironically there is more info on this band on metal websites than actual prog ones however there is nothing really remotely metal about this save the occasional power chord that reverberates into infinity.

This is slow burning chill music that develops a repetitive bass groove, gentle percussive accompaniment with the guitar adding Floydian guitar licks along with a cloudy atmospheric overcast that swishes and swirls around, sometimes reminding me of classic Gong and at other times a bit more like the early years of Hawkwind. However despite these nods to the past greats, ATAVISMO does refrain from overtly copying their referential sources and instead creates a rather distinct romp through the lysergic woods after a magic mushroom has slowly dissolved reality and only smoking caterpillars are left to declare sovereignty over the interdimensional gap between two different worlds.

Having been involved with the PSIKE team on ProgArchives now for a few years, i've heard more than my share of psychedelic rock bands that implement this same style of improv over a structured grooviness and when all is said and done, ATAVISMO delivers a nice addition to that slice of the psych prog universe but honestly on this debut really doesn't accomplish much else. With the possible connection to style with modern day bands such as Earthless or even Porcupine Tree, ATAVISMO really just engages in lengthy jam sessions that evoke some of the earliest flirtations of Krautrock. While the album is pleasant there isn't really much in the way of songwriting going on here. A nice debut but the band definitely stepped things up on the 2017 followup "Inerte." This one is OK but doesn't really blow me away.

siLLy puPPy | 3/5 |

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