The Shield among other series and films paint a terrifying and savage depiction of Mexican Cartel leaders and Mexican gang land culture, its not even just in fiction, but in the media too, most people probably are unaware that there even is a war over narcotics in Mexico that is still ongoing and very bloody. Despite Grindcore and Death Metals ability to write music on any given topic regarding death, war and injustice among others, this topic is generally neglected. However not so for Brujeria, these guys relish in this theme and pull off an image of actually being Mexican drug lords who believe in Witchcraft(the name Brujeria is Spanish for witchcraft), Satanism and eradication of white peoples. What a horrible band you might be thinking, well to tell you the truth they don't believe in any of this, they are a concept band and play on this fake reputation to garner infamy and a stigma. The line up is quite impressive and may be regarded in the league of the so called "Super bands" as each member is a veteran of the music industry, I wont tell you who the band members are as I think it is half the fun is working out who they are, at least one of them should be a dead give away with the hair and tattoos. As the line up becomes more apparent you realise that you may of been slightly hoodwinked in regards to who the band claim they are, I wont elaborate further as it is your duty to find out so.The title track which is also the first track starts of with some creepy intro with a child singing in Spanish, then the guitars kick in and you tell this is going to be one heavy release. There are a number of interesting features about this album; no blast beats, no fast guitaring and no demonic vocals or no screams or shrills, this lacks all the building blocks of a grindcore release! So we have established it isn't grind, but who cares it is en par; its heaviness is just bestial and the music is killer, I think the world is needing some more Mexican Murder Metal. The grindcore formula has been altered and replaced with that of a more progressive metal approach, but doing so has given this album a whole character of seizing all the dark corners and shady characters of Mexico and bring them all into one place: Brujerizmo the Album.
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The guitar work is a impressive achievement and most definitely needs a round of applause, it is hard to right something that is outright amazing, in line with the theme, catchy and ferocious. Well the guitarist does this and does it across all 11 tracks, and perhaps to top it all off everything he plays is neither fast nor difficult to play. The drums as aforementioned contain no blast beats nor any complex drumming explosion, however they serve to drill in the militancy and revolutionary spirit of the songs. Unlike most bands that have one bassist, Brujeria have opted to have 2/3(not sure exactly) and these additional bassists I am sure are what add to that super heavy effect of the songs, perhaps more death metal bands should take no. The composition of putting all these instruments to play cohesively has been pulled of with absolute precision, and there is no moment you feel that one note or a second is out of place. One thing that I have neglected is to mention any similarities between Brujeria and Fear Factory, I have never listened to Fear Factory, so me drawing parallels will not be my opinion but a regurgitation of someone else's.
Brujerizmo has earned itself as a cult classic among the extreme metal music industry, for those of you who are well settled in Grindcore, you may receive a revelation that music can be good and heavy as hell without being Grindcore(shock horror!), this . Brujeria have pulled an amazing feat of musical achievement and mastered the satanic and racially violent art of Mexican Murder Metal.
