Even if South America is rather far from what is believed to be or felt as the main "market" for heavy or underground music, i.e. Europe and North America, many heavy bands from those far-off countries are able to grasp attention worldwide and conquer our passion solidly, either with the wildest rage of their riffs, or with their exotic combinations of sounds or atmospheres. Matus, previosuly known as Don Juan Matus, is from Lima, Peru, and is one of those bands which rely on creativity, elegance as well as on heavy riffage while crafting their unique and elegant blend of styles.
Since their debut album in 2007, Don Juan Matus have become one of the most interesting and fascinating acts of the stoner/doom realm, even if their music bears a marked experimental, progressive imprint while spanning over a wide variety of genres like psychedelia and heavy rock from the 60-70s, Sabbathian doom, folk, ambient, blues, desert, space prog rock, etc. The very name of the band, Don Juan Matus, suggests a specific focus on various shades of psychedelia. Juan Matus is a major spiritual character in the books by Carlos Castaneda and is described as an Indios "magician" or shaman expert in trance-inducing herbs and plants from the desert.
Being a band from South America and relying upon some local environmental and cultural features, there are various "hybrid" sides in the music of Matus which make it different, "exotic", and greatly attractive.
No wonder that all the band's albums, three full-lengths, two splits (with the German doom act Angel of Damnation and with the Peruvian heavy metal band Oxido) and a substantial compilation, were highly acclaimed and successfully released by international labels. Above I mentioned the band dropped the Don Juan Matus name and shortened it into Matus. This happened very recently. That seems like a sort of rebirth after a period of uncertainties mostly related to the fact that the band's members now live in different countries and even continents (Peru and Australia). There were also a few rearrangements in the line-up recently (mid July 2014) when drummer Alfonso Vargas was forced to leave due to work issues. Friend Walo Andreo Carrillo took over and hence joined the core of the band involving founder Richard Nossar (guitars), Alex Rojas (vocals), Veronik (vocals, flute, theremin, guitar) and, not least, Manuel Garfias (guitars, bass). This recent reworking in the line-up took place during the recording of Matus' forthcoming album.
However there is something else moving and regarding Matus' last release, Espejismos. Espejismos (= mirages, optical illusions) is the name of the substantial collection of alternate versions and unreleased tracks that was released as a limited edition pro-tape by the US label Caligari Records during August 2013 and rapidly sold out.
Well, this fine collection will be soon re-issued as CD via the Japanese label Golden Procession Records, the same label that had released Don Juan Matus' 2008 split with Angel Damnation and the CD version of the 2010 masterpiece Más Allá Del Sol Poniente (see the review here). As reported in various interviews (including this one on Doommantia) the Espejismos collection includes different (re-recorded, reworked, extended ...) versions of selected tracks from the three previous full-length albums (S/T, Visiones Paganas and Más Allá Del Sol Poniente) as well as new, unreleased tracks.
The new, 2014 edition of Espejismos by Golden Procession Records will not be a simple re-issue, though, but will be expanded for including extra stuff which will make this release even more massive (over 60 minutes) than the original one. The Espejismos compilation may be regarded as a sort of patchwork of tracks, where the "old" tracks are effectively sewn together by the new tracks acting as a thread. Fans will recognise single tracks from the old albums. Nevertheless the different approach or the re-arrangement of the old tracks coupled with the impression induced by the new combination of songs as a whole, somehow act as a fascinating experience. The result sounds like a new, resuming album sweeping through the history of the band driven by inspiration and not by time constraints.
Which fits in the Matus character, I guess ...
Moreover this collection is a great way for approaching (Don Juan) Matus for those who happened to miss this valuable band before. The new tracks in the tape are, in sequence, “Cantico a los Dioses Antiguos", “Vortice Espiral II”, “Espejismos II”, “Auroral” and “Carne Humana para las Masas”. The short “Cantico a los Dioses Antiguos" opens the collection and immediately imparts an ancestral and definitely Andean atmosphere lead by ritual chanting/drumming and directly inspired by shamanism. But what follows, Sol Poniente, Kadath, Ecoplasma II, Mundo Alterno, Adios Afallenau, Vortice Espiral II and Matorral, is a kaleidoscope of styles where, however, the band seems to highlight their retro doom component. Sol Poniente is addictive with its plodding riffs with a retro flavour and the aggressive take of Alex' vocals which often sound so much like Chris Cornell. Doom turns to epic and mournful in Kadath, where the intensity of Alex' chanting interacts with the sinister sonic doodles of Veronik's theremin. The howls of the theremin also dominate Ectoplasma II (Breve Regreso), the brief dynamic interlude before the other amazing psychedelic doom slab of Mundo Alterno.
The relaxed swinging mood in the acoustic Adios Afallenau, driven by guitar and piano, is intimate and refreshing. This track was originally closing the side A of the tape version and was probably contributing to the separation between the two halves of the tracks, because the second part of the compilation is a bit different, comparably less heavy doomy and more markedly psychedelic and ambient. Moreover the second half of the collection hosts all the other new, previously unreleased tracks. Vortice Espiral II is a spectacular hommage to both occult rock with a garage tinge directly from the roaring late 60s-early 70s and hosts a drumming-cymbal solo in its second half. And while the leading riffs dies out, the band goes back to the acoustic mood with Matorral, a delicate, proggy dialogue between acoustic guitars and flute reminding me of some acoustic interludes in the very early Genesis. The airy poetry of this music is kept anchored to earth by means of very natural noise, like crickets chirping, dogs barking etc. The noise goes on with the shaking cymbals in the short track Espejismos II which acts both as a reprise of the drumming virtuosity heard before (maybe?) and as a charming bridge towards the other new track Auroral. Auroral is a calm and delicately melancholic semi-acoustic song which easily merges with the piano-driven atmospheric onset of Verde Nocturno/Las Horas Azules (already in Más Allá Del Sol Poniente). From the initial simple and slow refrain the proggy Verde Nocturno/Las Horas Azules ballad gradually unfolds thesophisticated richness of Matus' own electric space prog rock mixed with theremin vibrations and the flute evocative of thin air over the Andean heights.
The new track Carne Humana Para las Masas is an unsettling return to crude reality by means of its menacing martial take. The use of theremin together with the drums for the leading marching melody sounds particularly sinister to me.
Hands clapping at the end of this track were closing the tape. But in the upcoming re-issue of Espejismos by Golden Procession Records the band will keep your bong blazing for additional +20 minutes with a new version of the colossal heavy-psych doom suite Círculo De Sueños (originally opening Don Juan Matus’ 2007 self-titled debut album) as bonus addition.
So Don Juan Matus are Matus now. My feeling is that such evolution is best celebrated by the making of a project like Espejismos. And it is great to see the efforts of another underground label willing to share this project by Matus with more and more fans who missed the far too limited edition of the tape version. By the way, the tape version can be streamed in full on the bandcamp page of Caligari Records: HERE.
Keep Matus' new webpages checked for what is about to come, soon ...
Words: Marilena Moroni
Matus Links
Bandcamp
Don Juan Matus (old pages, still active)
Official Website