For nearly 30 years, Argentinian chaos legends Reynols have been charting a singular, tumultuous path of free form expression. Their first proper US release in nearly two decades, Tolin Asumer has the quartet in peak form. This music is never static and always searching. Venerable frontman Miguel Tomasin is, as ever, the beacon leading these jangled, jumbled sonic exorcisms through psych-infused catacombs. Tolin Asumer manages to thread the needle between elemental catharsis and forward-thinking levity, showing a band that is still growing and progressing deep into its existence.
Angled guitar expeditions cling to fuzz-laden architecture on opener “Coliso Atomro,” channeling a grinding mixture that sits somewhere between Can and Wire, with Anla Courtis’s guitar self-immolating without warning. Tomasin is incandescent, his guttural chants exploding into odd, mesmerizing shards. Frenetic rhythms from Pacu Conlazo drive the engine room in the background, almost obscured at times but blasting into metallic splash zones to meet Tomasin’s growing fury. “Coliso Atomro” is heavy, infused with a crunching splendor that feels celebratory amid 360-degree destruction. This is Reynols at their most direct. Their best.
Similar energy returns on “Manorla Acuplemo,” though both guitarists – Courtis and the excellent Roberto Conlazo – mine colder depths, and Conlazo pushes further into the light. Tomasin’s hypnotic melodies blend into the background, becoming another instrument that sails over Courtis and R. Conlazo’s subdued savagery. Textured tonal gnashing peels paint from the walls when Reynols kick “Manorla Acuplemo” into a higher gear, dragging us behind chained to the bumper.
Counter to the short, pointed blasts of “Coliso Atomro” and “Manorla Acuplemo” are two softer expanses. “Etrol Rene 5043” is effervescent with Tomasin adding whimsical organ leads to the thumping melodic flow. It’s an unexpected, fantastic juxtaposition to the near-anthemic punches from Courtis and R. Conlazo. The slow build finds a crescendo eventually, but Reynols is in no hurry to reach that apex, and “Etrol Rene 5043” benefits from that restraint. On a record filled with stellar performances, this is Tomasin at his irrepressible peak. When the distortion kicks in, we are flying. Barreling forward, swirling guitar solos become an invitation to join the feverdream and sear the face off the rest of the dying world. It’s absolute magic.
Tolin Asumer closes in the drone heaven of “Ronero Manila Dus.” Growing from a rippling bed of tamburas and resonant, anodyne guitars. Tomasin’s voice blends into the somnolent arrangement, bursting free every so often before being pulled back by the aural gravity. Embers glow, continually pushing the temperature of “Ronero Manila Dus” upward, finding subdued, intoxicating grooves. There’s plenty of fire throughout Tolin Asumer, but the final moments are a wake for the scorched Earth. Drifting away like ashes in the wind, Reynols disappears into the ether. For a band with so many unforgettable moments, Tolin Asumer is up there with the best of them and is a stunning reminder of why they are one of my all-time favorite bands.
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