Havalina "Islas De Cemento"

Havalina "Islas De Cemento" (p)2015 Origami

When Ignacio Celma who played bass for Havalina since 2009 decided to quit the band an year ago it made me curious about the band's future because it seemed like Ignacio was the ideal kind of supporter for the Havalina frontman Manuel Cabezali's complicated ideas trapped within the power trio format (the drummer Javier Couceiro remains the second constant of the band's lineup since 2004) with its natural limitations - in the numerous videos like the ones which Havalina made along with Bandalismo or Acordes Urbanos you may see how the guitar player and the bass player interact within the songs to support one another through the songs' unusual structures. But despite my fears the band quickly found the replacement in Jaime Olmedo - and the substitution was so trouble-free that it hardly impacted the band's ability to construct the sound of their own. So, flowing along in the vein of melodic stoner rock - the template the band is mantaining for the last five years - "Islas de Cemento" sounds like the continuation of two previous successful releases ("Las Hojas Secas" and "h"). But it goes that way only until the track #9 starts. 7 minute long "Cementerio de Coches" is by far the heaviest song ever performed by Manu Cabezali and his allies. It steps over the border and walks away from the Kyuss-penned cult classics like "Gardenia" or "Asteroid" into the sad and depressive territory of doom metal. Moreover, this earcrushing machine is followed by the rain - really, the next track is called "Lluvia en el Cementerio de Coches" - almost 9 minute long "La Pared" or "Musica Para Peces"-type of song that rises from relative quietness to the short circuit thunderstorm making these paired compositions the album's logical centerpiece.

Under the bottom line, the good news about "Islas del Cemento" is that the band still moves ahead and finds the place to evolve, as well as to apply new elements to their core sound. Another nice feature of this album is that the tracks "Islas de Cemento" and "Luces" could successfully compete with "Desierto" from "Las Hojas Secas" and "La Antartida Empieza Aqui" from "h" as the catchiest Havalina's songs since Manuel decided to abandon the Smashing Pumpkins-inspired alt-rock in favor of the thick layers of stoner/southern gloomy fog.


"Islas de Cemento" in Origami Records