EL REFLEJO

"Ayermaniana" is a space rock/psychedelic band from Argentina that formed and released their first album in 2013. At the time of this release in January 2019 they have a total of 3 studio album under their belt. There are currently 5 members in the band which includes 2 guitarists, one of which sings vocals, a bassist, drummer and percussionist. El Reflejo (The Reflection) is the name of their 3rd album. Their lyrics are in their native language, but that is hardly a deterrence to this solid and heavy space rock band with a stoner vibe.

"Moksha" is the first track and is fairly short featuring traditional Eastern folk instruments. This slides into "El Color", which is a sudden switch into a stoner rock vibe with a heavy riff. The vocals are in their native language, and the vocals are really good. It has a latin rock vibe underscoring a definite stoner attitude, which is a good and very interesting sound. It is obvious that this band knows what they are doing. The instrumental break slips into the heavy space rock mode, but they are not necessarily stuck in one key as there are plenty of key and chord changes. There is a Bond vibe later on as the underlying riff gets a bit repetitive, but still proves it's point well.

Next is "Canto" which leans more to a heavy psychedelic sound with echoing vocal effects and a solid early 70s style guitar. The first part of the track is heavily influenced by blues, but at the 2:30 mark, there is a sudden change of direction as the tempo gets much faster and the excellent amazing guitar work here will just blow you away. Wow! If you had any doubts about them before, this will chase them away. At 5 minutes, the drums take over for a solo that carries the song back to the original theme.

"Encuentro" begins with a rocking beginning with a great progressive vibe, but soon things mellow out as the vocals start. There is a more psychedelic sound to this one as jangling guitars strum out chords along with the heavy reverbed vocals. Again, we get another killer guitar solo in a blues-style. When the percussion stops, things get very psychedelic with a droning guitar and hissing cymbals surrounded by effects.

"Bienvenida" starts with a cool bass riff and swirling guitar effects. Dark sounding vocals with heavy reverb join in. The melody isn't as interesting this time, but when the psychedelic guitars come in later, things get better as the repeating bass riff continues to hold it all together. "Un Eco en el Acantilado" begins with a jazzy bass and drum which establish the foundation before the guitars come in. There is a nice surprise as a low growling sax joins in just before the vocals start. After the vocals break, a wailing guitar solo takes over and things slip into the trance-like state of space rock. Things go quite well until the spoken vocals come in, then it gets a bit annoying as this continues on for the remainder of the nine minute track.

"Nadie Escucha tus Lamentos" has a heavy repeating riff that the vocalist plays off of before an excellent guitar solo takes off. After a while, the foundation softens and there is that latin vibe again mixed with nice psychedelic, yet somewhat melodic guitar work. At 4 minutes, the foundation stops as the guitar continues along with a wind effect, but after about 30 seconds, it all takes off again and the vocals return one last time. The track ends off on a backwards sound.

This album starts out with a lot of promise and carries through to the 3rd track "Canto" which is an amazing track. After that, the next 3 tracks falter a bit, though they are still good, you tend to lose interest. There is some good material there, but after being roused by Canto, you hope for more of that style. At least it ends with a decent track, but what was heading for a four or maybe five star album suddenly slips to a 3 star affair. Overall, it is pretty good, but I would have loved to hear more rousing tracks like Canto scattered in there somewhere.