With a self-titled album released in 2022 and numerous concerts under their belt, Gu Vo have quickly become one of those bands whose power resonates throughout the scene thanks to word of mouth. Now, the Seville trio formed by Alejandro Ruíz (2020), Eduardo Escobar (Blacanova, Tannhäuser, Trisfe) and Raúl Burrueco (Combray, Tannhäuser) returns with this second studio album, simply titled «II».
Recorded live with Nacho García at Desmodus Sound, the darkness of motorik and homegrown krautrock that they already hinted at on their first album evolves here thanks to a more intuitive compositional approach, based on short, distinctive rhythmic repetitions and synthesiser patterns with which Gu Vo is able to build true sonic totems while preserving the essence of the original idea. All this is thanks to an exercise in minimalism, dynamics and a commitment to the monolithic. Then science fiction, horror and the occasional reference to the world of video games feed into extremely synthetic vocal lines, which dot the timbral and conceptual canvas of these songs, where the atmosphere of the arrangements and effects is always at the service of the muscle.
Inspired by William Friedkin’s film, the apparent simplicity of «Sorcerer» draws us intriguingly into the album, until «Drill» welcomes us with force. Next, the melody of «Yukio» completes the first track with vocals and sends the best kind of tingles down our spine: hypnosis, thanks to the frequencies of a beautifully grainy pedal chord that runs through the second half of the piece. We finish side A enjoying some of the most enveloping moments and the most exaggerated instrumental planes of the album, in the wonderful «Martian Dust Devil». A song composed from a rhythm that is vaguely reminiscent of dub and whose dynamics are nothing short of masterful. Side B begins with the frantically arpeggiated pattern of «601», before tackling the trance that will lead us to two of the most luminous tracks on the album, «Penguin Land» and «Frog Rug». Songs for the turning point that, now, have prepared us for the freedom and dark denouement of «Ebb Tide».
