Album Review: Las Historias – Las Historias (Electric Valley Records)

Electric Valley Records presents heavy psych/doom entity Las Historias’s tranquillising self-titled album, which comes on July 24th digitally and on LPs —150x Red Vinyl, 100x Transparent Vinyl, 50x Black Vinyl, and 25x Ultra LTD “Mayhem Edition.

Arising from Córdoba, Argentina, Las Historias is a young power trio that take their cues from stratospheric guitar madness of Jimi Hendrix and the bluesy psychedelia of the ‘60s to the funeral riffs of Black Sabbath and Electric Wizard.

The group took its shape in 2018 as a duo when the singer/multi-instrumentalist Tomas settled in  Córdoba City and met the drummer Juan. Tomas, beforehand, had participated in several projects during his days in Laboulaye, Córdoba, and the experience left by those old projects would later stimulate him to experiment further and take his sound in a new direction. The advent of the bassist Manuel in 2019 would complete the lineup of Las Historias.

In January 2020, Las Historias started recording for the first EP, which initially had four songs. The trio published the tracks of the EP on Bandcamp in April 2020, and at that time, Electric Valley Records showcased an interest in launching the physical format of this album. The band added a new track exclusively for this vinyl release and revamped it to their self-titled debut album.

It doesn’t get more trippy and psychedelic than this. From the moment Lord of Poisons begins, the fuzzy air thickens and everything takes on a dream-like quality. It’s like being drunk, stoned and on acid at the same time.

It’s not until Frankenstein that the guitar riffs become more solid and easier to grasp. The 70’s feel is strong, aided by the arrival of vocals. A clean and clear sound that is happy enough to stand aside for a wild headache inducing guitar solo.

The general feeling of discombobulation isn’t halted with Hada Madrina and is only enhanced with the following Ya Vendran. A momentous effort, the latter is almost 9 minutes of terrifying madness and beauty rolled into one. Summarised by even more stylish weirdness and uncomfortable trips into chaos.

By contrast, the finale of Mayhem and Sex is truly something different simply by being the heaviest track on the album. Las Historias giving doom mongers a lesson in how to make a mournfully memorable head-banger.

Las Historias – Las Historias Full Track Listing:

1. Lord of Poisons
2. Frankenstein
3. Hada Madrina
4. Ya Vendran
5. Mayhem and Sex

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