Toundra, from Madrid, Spain is releasing its 9th album this January 14th, on InsideOut Music. Toundra is made up of Alberto Tocados, on bass and synths; Álex Pérez, on drums and piano; David López “Macón”, on guitars and synths; and Esteban Girón, on guitars.
The album opens with a 22-minute “El Odio”, which translates roughly to “The Hate”. Esteban Girón, the lead guitarist describes it, “A “call to action”. Saying: “I am thirty-four years old, and since I became an adult until relatively recently, I have lived in anger. Being angry at the world helped me to move forward in many areas of my life, and because of that, it became a necessity to be angry at the world. Life is too short to be angry. During the recording of this album, Macón approached me and showed me a video in which some unfortunate people climbed up to a balcony to steal a rainbow flag and then tore it apart. People below cheered and supported them. ‘This is 2021’!” Life in this world of screens, numbers, and false justifications of mathematics, theories even more perverse than social Darwinism, denature the human being and lead them to hate whoever is next to them. I have never seen an animal hate and I have grown up among them. There are much better alternatives to hatred; I understand that now. And I can progress and grow more through love than by hating. Many of my best friends are having children, and when I see those kids, I always think, ‘I hope you’ll live happily in a better world than the one I believe we’re leaving for you. If we allow the fury of hatred, racism, intolerance to grow; if we tolerate it, then what we love most, our children, will be the ones suffering a life of slavery, intolerance, and fear. Because, just like that poster during the Spanish Civil War said in the face of intolerance, ‘if we tolerate this, our children will be next.”
This band symbolizes and expresses the hate they feel well throughout this 22-minute epic. It is full of blistering guitar, emotionally deep bass, percussion and kicking drums. You can feel the dread and the dark feelings that permeate this long track throughout. Very post-modern. There exist some brighter moments near the end of the epic, which shine light on the possibilities expressed in the words above.
The rest of the album is similar in nature. Hard, dark and powerful. You have to be in the right frame of mind to appreciate it. Heavier than a regular progressive rock album, for sure, but no less relevant.
Not my favorite cup of tea, but a great reflection of the times we are progressing through. It has been a very tough couple of years for the world, fighting a pandemic and all the violence which has crept into our lives from being stuck in a world where pain and suffering surround us. This band captures that feeling well here. There are elements of Rush, Black Sabbath, and many other progressive metal bands you can imagine. Not the kind of album you are gonna pick up from your playlists and play regularly. But the musicianship is top notch, even if you miss hearing vocals and listening to a story.
As an example, the song, “La Larga Marcha”. There have been several historic long marches, across the globe, over all of human history. Which of these difficult undertakings do they refer? Or do they mean the long march of progress, towards non-violence? Not sure, but a story, with lyrics and vocals would have helped make the interesting music even better. Great music, but we know what is missing.
Track List
- El Odio, Parte I – 8:05
- El Odio, Parte II – 6:45
- El Odio, Parte IIII – 6:54
- Ruinas – 5:02
- La Larga Marcha – 5:50
- Watt – 7:51
- FIN – 4:58