‘Siete’ is the new album by Toundra that is released today, Friday

As usually happens to all bands that have a certain longevity –almost two decades in this case–, the people from Madrid Toundraan undisputed reference of instrumental rock in every sense of the word and seasoned in tours throughout Europe, have had to reinvent themselves with their new album.

Occasions like this encourage us to make a virtue of necessity. In addition to betting on independence when it comes to managing everything, they have seen the opportunity to shake the shaker in search of new flavors to add to the recipe. The addition of Jorge García, a close friend of the group (and member of the post-metal band Adrift), facilitates the changes in this seventh album that continues the numerical tradition with which they name their works.

But let’s not go crazy either. Even synths, shoved through distortion pedals, sound like guitars. The reinvention has led them to be more direct than progressive, in somewhat shorter compositions. More “songs”, and with a greater prominence of analog electronics. However, its rock heart – with strategic touches of metal – continues to beat through the seven new compositions strung together in a cinematic journey.

His way of understanding instrumental rock is condensed in the energetic first cut “Rapier”with its distorted synth in the center. The clear and direct sound of his regular collaborator Santi García grabs the listener by the lapel and immerses him in a world where the emotional romanticism of the MONO school fits in –“Wispar”–, to the demands of “Eina”the rock forcefulness of “30960” –homage to Sant Feliu de Guíxols, where Santi has his classic Ultramarinos studio– and the complexity of “Uniform”. In a subgenre in which people like Explosions In The Sky, Mogwai or the aforementioned Japanese band have achieved mastery, Toundra They rub shoulders with them and have things to say.