From playing high-octane “post-rock‘n’roll” to writing the soundtrack for a horror classic, Toundra are one of instrumental music’s most versatile bands. Now they’re pushing themselves again, with an album featuring a three-part suite decrying hatred and homophobia. Esteban Girón tells us more.

Words: Matt Mills

Look Who’s back (ahem): Toundra, with Esteban Girón far left.

Images: Daniel Cruz

“I grew up in a rural town with 600 people and 2,500 cows,” Toundra guitarist and co-founder Esteban Girón says with a laugh as he talks to Prog via Zoom. “I grew up next to animals all the time. You can see one here.” He turns his webcam to the left, revealing a cat hiding behind his desk lamp. “Hi Penny,” he coos.

Girón recently moved back to that natural idyll where he grew up – the green, mountainous region of Asturias in northern Spain – after spending almost 15 years amid the urban clamour of Madrid. He’s settled down with his partner and, clearly, is very happy. His demeanour is the polar opposite to the emotions explored by his band’s new, seventh album.

Hex consists of seven songs about hatred, anger and anxiety, and its musical urgency reflects that. While conventional post-rock bands would use extended tranquillity to build up to a mighty crescendo – adhering to the centuries-old model of classical music – Toundra emphasise cacophonous riffs and cut the filler. Listen to a song like Ruinas and the payoff arrives in seconds, percussion exploding into hyperactivity after a brief, ambient introduction.