ninehertz

This may not be our core of doom or stoner or sludge, but I'd challenge anyone who has followed ninehertz not to be invigorated by the guitar on Amigo Colapso, the second track on Spanish band Cemënteri's new album Panorama en Llamas. Okay, maybe our black metal or funeral doom followers, there maybe too much life here. But everyone else - gather round and click in, because we have to have these thrills, these rushes in our lives every now and again, a single song, a single riff that can provide uplift on an otherwise weary day.

The song was out a few weeks prior, and it sure had me waiting impatiently for the album. It reminds me a little of At the Drive In - punk and hardcore with electrifying energy that'll make the dead move; Battles could turn that riff into a rebirthing, album defining song. Almost inevitably, the album never reaches the same high, but stands in good stead regardless.

For the majority, this is lo fi post-hardcore drifting into breezy punk - my thoughts drift to our old favourites Shit the Cow on more than one occasion. Opener Volver (Una canción de amor) has the feel of a low attended but love-in-the-room gig group sing along, a rough but live feeling recording which adds a closeness. Elsewhere, Vietnam Me Mata has a surfy vibe, bringing the Alicanti sun to us, brightening even the grey winters of northern England; the Spanish vocals throughout means I don't pick out the lyrics, but more importantly portray an authenticity, an honesty to the feel of it.

I can't remember how I came across this - it is likely one of two things - either because it has been released on the excellent Quebranta Records label which I try and keep tabs on, or because they've got a doom name and dark album cover and I was expecting something else. Regardless, I've become obsessed with Amigo Colapso since that first time, and whilst that may be in detriment to the rest of the album, that's not a fair reflection of what is at times a really cool sounding record.