Started in 2009 out of a few jam sessions, Xb'alanke is one of the first instrumental/post-rock bands to come out of Guatemala. We released one album called Iridio in 2011 and there are plans to release a second album some time in the near future. From the start we became known for loud, intense live performances as we played all around the country (and a couple of times in El Salvador and Mexico).
The band has always consisted of me (Fernando, guitars) and Piolo (bass), with drums being handled mostly by Santa and for a couple of years by Memo (and very briefly by Mako, and very very briefly by Jean), and guitars/synths being handled by Nelson at first before becoming a studio-only member. We performed live for the last time in 2016 as a four-piece consisting of the original members.
The band's sound can best be described as "the apocalypse in D-minor", filled with a dark melancholy that overlays the heavy aesthetic. Songs are developed as an interplay between soft/loud and clean/distorted, with variations on the crescendo-heavy dynamic of more "standard" post-rock and even incorporating some progressive characteristics.
