America Es Una Dictadura (Crimenes De Guerra, Sangre Rebelde, 2004)

Most Punx tend to worship the Scandinavian and Japanese Punk scenes but fail to comprehend the strength and aggression played in the most intense Punk scene in the world, the Latin American scene. By saying this I entitle Mexico, every country in South America and of course the homeland of Spain. Japanese Punk being as wicked and insane as it is, it does not top the Spanish speaking bands and to this day I still could not give you a definite answer as to why, until now.



Crimenes De Guerra are an Anarchopunk band from Mexico City, Mexico that in my opinion released one of the greatest Anarcho-based records of the previous decade. The album is entitled Sangre Rebelde and is a little over 25 minutes long, just the perfect length for this type of record. I originally stumbled across this looking on a news forum that did not pertain to music at all, instead focusing on the light of inhuman crimes and beheadings for a research paper when I found this awesome record for download. Didn't know what to expect but once I heard the first track "La Resistencia", I knew I was in for a good ride. Sick production and vocals very much so in the style of Latin Anarchopunk, being that they are shouted at insanely fast speeds proclaiming the evils and wrongs of man and its corrupt and vile legal system. I enjoyed the guitar quite a bit, being that is was tuned perfectly to what I think Punk should be, any lower and it would be muddy and just irritating. Drums are great, consistently pounding out roundhouse fills and d-beats just the way I like it. Probably the coolest thing about this album is the title itself, making a major reference to the old Mexican rebels that fought against its harsh and cruel government that persecuted its own country and essentially crumbled because it was so vile and despicable. I believe history will repeat itself, civil war is approaching and anarchism is now a possibility in Mexico, liberation and solidarity being their only weapon this is what the album focuses on primarily and I really dug the deep approach rather then just the generic "fight the man" bullshit we've been hearing since we were 13. If you haven't heard of this band definitely worth a listen, but if Anarchism, Human and Animal Liberation and overall Protest isn't your thing, or you just hate Punk, then this will not be anything new. Fuck taxes.

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"Mexican" Murder Metal, (Brujeria, Brujerizmo 2000)

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.

Guess Who?

The vocals are just amazing, forget any inhumane, pissed off, drugged up or chainsaw rape style vocals we are accustomed to, this is the true voice of some testosterone fuelled, machete wielding Mexican drug dealer who in his spare time kidnaps people more for sport than the money(speaking of which watch Man on Fire). His audio assault is all done in Spanish, which is one of the most fundamental features of this album, his singing if you can call it so, sounds more like some revolutionary who is driven more by blood-lust and vengeance than political ideal.
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.

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Encyclopaedia Metallum

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