by Ryan Meyer (@meyer_ryan_twt)
Self-labeled as “a poor man’s jazz” and “working-class krautrock,” Oruã released their third record, Íngreme, on October 29, 2021. The krautrock influence is apparent, but I hear more psychedelic rock than jazz. Regardless of labels, self-applied or otherwise, Íngreme is an eclectic mix of songs that feature sample-like interludes alongside Black Sabbath-like riffs.
“Declive Interlúdio” sounds like it could be sampled in a hip hop song, with its lo-fi crackle and simple yet effective rhythm. “Slowmotion” is home to the record’s best guitar playing, not so much in the slow doom metal/Nirvana crawl of the first riff, but rather in the chorus melody, falling beautifully into the seven-minute crawl of the song, which is my favorite on the record simply because of this riff. It’s one of the moments on Íngreme that bears the echoes of post-punk, as does “Cavalo Branco,” providing horns before devolving into a brief noise spell before returning to the grunge-like riff.
The aforementioned Black Sabbath jam finds itself in “Eluar” with its heavy guitars and pulsing bass line. It also seems as though Oruã draw on the guitar work of early Tame Impala for the intro to “Eucalypsus,” before it becomes a power-chord laden jam reminiscent of the popular rock music from twenty years ago. The organ heard in the beginning of “Essência Bruta” makes it the bluesiest song of the album, and the mix of the fuzzed-out guitars swinging from ear to ear makes the interplay between the two guitars that much more interesting.
The record ends on “Osiris,” a guitar-stabbing funk jam that is too short for its sweetness. If there’s any song on the album that would’ve made a perfect seven-minute jam, it’s this one. Íngreme is worth a listen for those interested in modern-day krautrock, jazz or psychedelic music, and offers some hidden gems of guitar playing throughout its 45 minutes.