asia menor's 'Vaho' Is a Dense, Patient Leap Forward for Chilean Art Punk
Three years after Enola Gay, the Santiago four-piece asia menor have made the record that the Chilean indie press has been waiting on — and it is longer, denser and considerably stranger than the one anybody was owed. Vaho is out on Sello Fisura, and it currently sits at 81 on Album of the Year across nearly 300 listener ratings, a rare thing for a record with no English on it and no single under three and a half minutes.
The Sonic Breakdown
The Production & Mix
The Low-End: Aníbal Vergara’s bass and Cristóbal Mora’s drums operate as one instrument with two opinions. Víctor Muñoz produced, and the rhythm section is mixed forward and dry — you can hear the room, but you are never invited to relax in it. Chalo González mastered, and left the eight tracks genuinely dynamic; the quiet passages are quiet. The Spatial Dynamics: The Narval Orquesta arrangements on “Mehuín” and the twelve-minute “Calor” are the structural gamble. Rather than crowning the songs, the strings and horns open underneath them, so the band appears to be standing on something that was not there a minute earlier.
Standout Performance
Diego Seguel, who plays guitar across the record and steps up to sing lead on “Mehuín.” It’s the moment the album stops being an argument and becomes a person. Writing in Zumbido, Ricardo Arriagada Gómez framed the album as one that rewards return trips — “each listen we’ll be excavating and discovering more things,” in translation — and Seguel’s vocal is where the excavating starts.
Why It’s Certified
Because the band went collective about it on purpose. “Liquid and transformation are present in lyrics and concerts, so it was evident we arrived at the album title,” they told Futuro Chile. That’s vaho — vapour, breath on glass. “Lo bueno que tiene, lo malo que ignoro,” “Metal” and “Vi al diablo” all hold their shape for a while and then fog over. You don’t need the Spanish to hear it happen. Certified great.