I can’t resist free shit, so it was a must get for me when I read that Dia De Los Muertos released their new album ‘Satánico Dramático’ for free on their website.
I’ve heard of the band before and planned to listen to their EP, ‘Day of the Dead,’ but sadly never got my hands on it.
Free or not, is it a good album? Well, check out my review after the jump.
Dia De Los Muertos – Satánico Dramático
1. Las Calaveras Del Terror – 03:55
2. Plague Mass – 03:28
3. Sigo Siendo El Rey – 01:11
4. Death’s Embrace – 03:55
5. Fresh Meat To The Grinder – 03:59
6. Here Hell Rises – 02:21
7. The Fifth Republic – 02:08
8. Bestia De Las Mil Cabezas – 02:48
9. Sigo Vivo – 03:50
10. Satánico Dramático – 02:45
So first off, I want to introduce the band to you a bit. The band consists of Loana dP Valencia (Dreams of Damnation) on vocals, Alfonso Pinzon (Agony) on drums, Andres Jaramillo (Agony) on guitars, Adrian Villanueva (Brainstorm, Engrave) on guitars and Alejandro Corredor on bass.
The artwork above works just fine with the meaning behind the bandname. “Dia De Los Muertos” is Spanish for “Day of the Dead” and it’s a holiday mainly celebrated in Mexico. Read more about it here.
So the albums starts off with Thrash Metal á la Witchery and the vocals also remind me of Erik “Legion” Hagstedt’s (Marduk) vocals on the last Witchery album. So that’s already a great thing because I loved ‘Witchkrieg,’ the only downside is the production. It works on a couple of songs and the guitar sound isn’t all that bad. My main complaint are the drums, that are too low in the mix, and the vocals, that are at times too loud in the mix. It’s not bad bad, but I’m a nitpicker.
The album gets heavier with each song and ‘The Fifth Republic’ is the first full-blown Death Metal song, with a couple of hints of Deathgrind, in the vein of Asesino. Which is not really a surprise, because Tony Campos of Asesino used to play with the band. The next song ‘Sigo Vivo’ is the first real surprise on this album, which is as melodic as this band gets on this album. Mostly clean vocals and an awesome, oldschool thrashy guitar solo. These guys sure know how to play their instruments. The album ends with the titletrack, a short instrumental that’s a bit melancholic.
Overall, the album mainly features a similar style of music but it never gets boring and the band perfectly understands how to switch enough things up, without drifting into an entirely different sound. The vocals, even though fitting at times, seem out of place on some songs. I was hoping for more diversity when it comes to the vocals after a couple of songs but was mainly let down. If this album had a better production, my rating would have been more favorably but I also have to take into consideration that this album was released for free.
