ARIDONIA ~EP1 .... review

Argentinian desert groovsters Aridonia, Tomas Longombardo (bass),  Matias Paiva (drums), Fernando Echenique (guitar/vocals) and Benjamin Yecora (guitar/vocals), are a band hailing from Argentina's Jujuy Province in the countries north-westerly extreme, a place renowned for its arid/semi-desert environment. Its no surprise then to find the bands debut EP, "EP1", is duly informed by that environment.

"Cenizas" begins its journey around a throbbing thick toned guitar refrain bolstered by massive a bass and drum groove over which clean, powerful vocal tones are delivered in the bands native tongue of Spanish. The songs initial attack of doom-ish riffage, laced with twisty desert guitar colouring, gradually shifts its focus and veers into more psychedelic country and sees Aridonia stretching out and flexing their musical muscles with Floyd-ian/ Colour Haze-ish tinted guitars soaring and screaming over jazzy, lysergic backdrops of cosmic groove dripping with spacey effects.
"Enteögeno", a homage to natures hallucinogen's, opens with a lone liquid bass line soon joined by a jazzy fusion-like guitar motif before taking off into the stratosphere on a brief wave of gnarly desert riffage, falling back into its ambient beginnings when the mellow, laid back clean vocals appear. Whether intentional or not the songs groove seems to musically mirror the lysergic rollercoaster ride of "being on a trip" with  spirituality, wonder and chemically induced awe all musically represented here as the groove wends its way back and forth between ambient periods of jazzy fusion  and crunching heavy riffage the dynamics of which periodically fall and rise until finally bowing out on a wave of  heavily psyched desert bluster.
"Larga Duna" begins gently and folk-like with sweet clean vocal harmonies sang over a foundation of gently swept guitar arpeggios and shimmering percussion interrupted by sporadic moments of gnarly heaviness. As with previous tracks the dynamics swing between gentle and heavy, the band going off on the occasional tangent but always keeping one eye on the groove, mixing elements of heavy psych texturing with those of hard rock and fusion-like jazz in an exciting blend that is both unique and familiar at the same time.
If you like your grooves a little experimental yet with a heavy stonerized core then Aridonia's "EP1" is an EP you should check out .....


© 2017 Frazer Jones