9 RITUALEZ

One year after having released its debut album, Mexican composer Tizok Briseño delivered the second record for his proyect Nauyaka, entitled '9 Ritualez', which saw the light in September 2024. He is in charge of everything, the composition, the performance, the production, a quite laudable work that deserves a spotlight and a wave of applauses.

What he delivers here is a 54-minute album divided in nine pieces, which would be the nine rituals, as the title suggests, letting us know once again that Briseño is quite fond of ancestral culture. It opens with 'Uno Ritual Zabiduría', a blend of symphonic prog with zeuhl and avant-garde roots, the experimentation is inherent part of Nauyaka's music, we can tell it by this sole track. The journey is completely instrumental here, so be prepared for its different passages and explosions, just like it happens in 'Doz Ritual Voluntad' which has a darker sound with instruments playing at unison, and then after some seconds a new rhythm and structure begins to be built-up. Some nice spacey synth atmospheres are delivered here, jazzy-zeuhl piano and sympnonic keyboards every now and then, this is a quite interesting track.

The first 20 seconds of 'Trez Ritual Ekztaziz' begin with percussion, then the explosion arrives and that nice mixture of eclectic prog where symph meets zeuhl is present again. A faster rhythm that sometimes is contrasted by pauses, by a slower rhythm, but representing the ecstasy somehow, a ritual full of energy and emotions. The keyboard work here is excellent, probably one of my favorite from the Nauyaka experience. 'Kuatro Ritual Tranzformazión' has several inner changes that makes it more interesting because the music is never plain, the eclecticism of Nauyaka is shown here, in a piece that I could say blends not only different rhythms or musical genres, but also different cultures.

'Zinko Ritual Komunión' has a psych prog essence in the very first seconds, an opening scene much different from the previous songs, however, a bit later it returns to that symphonic and zeuhl-like sound Nauyaka accostumed us to. A vertiginous ride, power and energy delivered in most of the song, contrasted by some passages where the rhythm slows down a bit. There is a very nice work of strings, both the bass lines and the guitar notes and riffs. 'Zeiz Ritual Dialéktika' sounds more stuck to ancestral roots and rituals, the percussion work here is quite fine, while piano and guitar put a diversity of colors. Its first two minutes might be the most Mexican song from both Nauyaka's albums, sounds quite different, however, after minute two it changes, the rock and the vertiginous ride begin and Briseño fills us with energy during the rest of the song.

A darker atmosphere appears in the first seconds of 'Ziete Ritual Kreatividad', then it makes a sudden explosion but it slows down and provide an enigmatic calm passage where percussion and strings produce a kind of mourning sound. I believe Briseño reflects here his own creativity, I in fact believe this album is a step forward compared to his debut, because I don't fit it that repetitive, I mean, each song shows Nauyaka's essence, but each one has something quite different to tell. 'Ocho Ritual Zenzibilidad' shares a kind of gothic sound that reminds me of some 70s Italian acts, it is like going to a church and be embraced by its charm. Half of the song continues like that, but then it changes a little bit, a soft and natural change that is easy to dig and enjoy.

The album finishes with 'Nueve Ritual Amor' which nicely sums up what Nauyaka's sound is about and, as I interpret, it is a reflection of what moves Briseño: love, for music, for art, for his culture, for his ancestral research, love for creativity.

Congrats once again, not an easy task to be a one-man-band and release albums with this kind of creativity and quality.