Volumen brutal

(First of all, sorry for any mistake. English is not my native language, but I try my best. Mistakes are not intended!)

Volumen brutal is not just the best Spanish heavy metal album from the '80s. It is one of the best traditional heavy metal albums I've never heard from any band from any part of the world. Volumen brutal deserves to be compared with the best records from the '80s like Judas Priest's Defenders of the Faith or Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast. But Barón Rojo had the same bad luck that had French bands like Sortilège: their lyrics aren't in English. I understand that bands that sing in languages other than English aren't as famous as the bands that do it. But ignoring non-English language bands, we are missing some incredible records, especially from countries like Spain, France or Japan, where singing in their own language is common.

That said, Volumen brutal is the best traditional heavy metal record that saw the light in Spain in the '80s, just reached by some other essential records like Muro's Telón de acero. It mixes perfectly the influences from classical rock and hard rock with heavy metal. The album reaches sounds from '70s hard rock/metal in the vein of Deep Purple in Concierto para ellos, with impressive keyboards from Colin Towns (from the Ian Gillan Band) to speed metal songs like Resistiré, an aggressive song that will break your neck and will remind you automatically of Accept. That's one of the virtues of Volumen brutal. While other contemporary heavy metal albums sounded monotonous and repetitive, this album has a little bit of all the different ways of playing heavy metal in 1982.

There are unusual elements in a metal record, like a saxophone in Son como hormigas, played by Mel Collins, that played in prog bands like King Crimson and Camel. But it fits incredibly well in a raw metal song with some hard rock moments that catches you from the first second with its violent beginning. There are slow and heavy riffs, like the main one from Las flores del mal, a majestic song which have some reminiscences from Black Sabbath. For example, this riff reminds me the one from Hole in the Sky (but far from being a plagiarism). Los rockeros van al infierno, the most famous song from Barón Rojo's discography, is a traditional heavy metal anthem. This one and Resistiré are probably the most well-known classics from Barón Rojo, and both are songs that could be in the heaven of metal anthems with songs like Paranoid or Breaking the Law.

People use to say that the weakest moment in Volumen brutal is Dame la oportunidad, but I think that it is a perfect way to play a love song without falling in the traditional ballad, with a beautiful guitar work from the De Castro brothers. Maybe the "weakest" song in the album is Hermano del rock and roll, which is just a good regular hard rock song. The final track, the instrumental El barón vuela sobre Inglaterra, is a clear and direct influence from the NWOBHM, with a collection of riffs that could be part of the two first Iron Maiden albums. Barón Rojo toured at the end of 1982 with Tank (some months after the release of Volumen brutal), another British act that influenced the work of Barón Rojo.

The lyrics have some clichés of the genre, like songs about partying or about the rock and roll lifestyle. But there are some songs (Incomunicación, Son como hormigas or Resistiré) which have some social criticism. Rock and metal music in Spain arrived after the Francoist dictatorship (Franco died in 1975), and for this reason it was common between rock bands from the last '70s and the '80s to have this kind of message, that in my opinion, fit perfect with the rebellious attitude of heavy metal music. But, analyzing the lyrics, Concierto para ellos deserves a special mention. It is a perfect epic anthem (with a delicious riff) in homage to some rock musicians that have died: Bon Scott, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon, Duane Allman, Marc Bolan, John Bonham, Brian Jones and Keith Moon.

It is sad to think in this album when you look what Barón Rojo have become today. In the '80s, José Luis Campuzano "Sherpa", Hermes Calabria and the brothers Carlos de Castro and Armando de Castro were one of the most interesting and powerful acts from all over the world. They toured all over the UK and in Japan. And it was Volumen brutal, the album that propelled them to fame. Barón Rojo recorded this album in the Kingsway Studios, owned by Ian Gillan, and they had the help of Bruce Dickinson in the English translation. But in spite of this great past, nowadays, the band is divided in two, and neither of the parts makes justice to their legacy. But if you want to know why some people (like myself) have an immense respect for Barón Rojo, just listen to this masterpiece.