ninehertz

I can’t say I recall ever featuring a Venetian band on ninehertz before, so this is a pleasant first. Aktopasa are a trio who play an accomplished brand of heavy psych, stoner rock and post-rock as displayed on their latest album Glide Reflections.

This is a record of super chilled vibes and nice guitar flourishes set within a light-touch psychedelic air. There are times when it floats away a little too far, becoming mere incidental and fading into the background, but this is not the majority. Instead, we’re treated to an almost meditative experience in the main. Think Kyuss’ Space Cadet, or perhaps more pertinently Colour Haze’s repertoire as a baseline comparison. Aktopasa succeed in applying the same deft touch of psych beauty as the German greats – particularly on tracks such as the fantastic The Wayfarer.

Solstice may be even better, with its gorgeous and slight guitar work accompanied by shuffling drums in such a gentle way as to be a light caress on the listener, music you could pleasantly fall asleep to at the end of a perfect day. And if that sounds too mushy, then that’s on me as I can’t think of a better way to describe it. The penultimate (and misnamed) Final Act is worth a mention too, starting with sounds of the sea against a shore mixed in with birdsong and ending with a passage that recalls Los Natas’ psych stoner prowess.

It won’t set the pulse racing, but it isn’t meant to. Aktopasa exist in that arena where psych meets the fuzz of stoner rock and with a post-rock acumen in song architecture. At its best, Glide Reflections finds a beauty within those spaces.