Esto es Brujeria

I NEVER thought I would have this much fun with a Brujeria album! My first encounter with this "secret" supergroup of narcos satanicos was most befittingly on a mixtape with underground grind and slam bands. Rumours had it that Dino Cazares was part of the band, which was fairly easy to hear throughout their early production. Although Brujeria sound like no other band, they never belonged to my favourites. I have enjoyed listening to a song here and there, none of the albums so far have been bad but also not outstanding in my opinion. There is an unmistakable charm to Brujeria that always makes me smile when I hear them, though, and it's as hilarious to see Shane Embury trying to squeeze in his fluffy hair behind the balaclava during the live shows as it is to see whoever presently fronts the band don their massive machetes. I always felt that they gradually became increasingly heavy on groove and less of a grindcore band, if ever they were one, as the years passed.

Enters Esto es Brujeria and kicks down the door with a vigor I never imagined them being capable of upbringing. The chemical balance has shifted from marijuana in favor of cocaine it seems, cause this is fast as a coyote being chased by Santa Muerte on a unicycle built out of scythe blades. And it isn't just an opening trick to grab the listeners attention with "Esto es Brujeria", with its unhinged mariachi attitudes, but Brujeria keeps their foot steadily pressed down on the gas pedal for most of the remainder of the album as well. This reliance on speed brings Brujeria closer than ever before to Napalm Death in sound, also in the rare instances when they slow down (compare for example the opening minutes of "Mexorcista" with "Contemptuous"). But it also creates a kinship to Macabre in that twisted nursery rhyme paired with hyper speed drumming sense. And any similarity to Fear Factory is rather of the Soul of a New Machine death-grind kind, which you can hear on "Bestia de la Muerte", which also sounds like an ongoing train robbery.

Let's talk about La Encabronada. Holy shit! She's supposed to be a movie or TV celebrity, I don't know, I really suck at things like that. But in my world, she's an absolute metal monster celebrity! I hate coming across as sexist, but when she goes all unhinged with the microphone, I can feel heterosexuality shooting electronic pulses all the way through my smallest capillaries as if I had snorted it! Her energy is unreal, as is the overall energy throughout this album. A big contributor to this fact might be new drummer Hongo Jr. (who could it be, who could it be? Perhaps a British black metal legend who goes by the initials N.B.)? With access to a drummer this limitless in speed and skill, Brujeria are able to revitalize their sound without actually having to change much else.

Of course, since this is a Brujeria album, you can't really expect standout riffs. You have to enjoy it for what it is, a high octane slab of petrol oozing Mexican metal that has no equal in sound on this planet, for good or bad. And even though the closing trio "Covid-666", "Lord Nazi Ruso" and "Cocaine" are just dumb and dull, this is, in fact, Brujeria's best album, and that fact surprised me to such an extent that I've come to cherish this album more than most releases this year!

Unexpectedly, and seven years after their latest studio effort, Pocho Aztlan, was released, when we all had given up any hope that they would put out another album, and fueled by the success of their recent touring activity, the mighty combo unleashes this new slab of aural mega-violence on us. Every album they put out is a little worse than the previous one to me, and yet still enjoyable. Sure; nothing can measure up to Matando Gueros, for sure, yet their sophomore Raza Odiada was almost as good, if a lot more polished and lacking the almost black metal darkness their debut featured. Brujerizmo, infamous for its industrial/groove/nu-metally sound of sorts, was incredibly good to me as well. So what is on offer now?

Ater a minute and 15'' of an intro lifted from a TV show in which someone talks about banning Brujería from the country, the first seven songs crack your skull in the usual fast-paced deathgrind style; AWESOME. 6 more songs ensue, but surprise! Style changes, and drastically so. Grindcore is out of the picture. Sure, the drums still reminisce hardcore punk rock here and there, but the pace is slower, and doom and groove metal elements abound, and not exactly in a catchy way (thanx Satan). Death metal riffs are ace though, and the thrash metal riffs Anton used to play, are nowhere to be found.

3 more songs lifted from previously released singles add 10 more minutes to the album. They could be considered as bonus tracks; they had done the same with Pocho Aztlan, because they did not have enough material to round up an album; not the case this time, but people who did not get the singles in due time will enjoy them, for they are darn good tunes, except for Cocaine, a b-side that never worked for me. An Eric Clapton song that would have been ace if given the proper Brujería treatment, yet it only consists of one simplified riff, played over and over again, while repeating the word ''cocaine'' on top of it; very lazy and boring in my opinion.

The flow of the album would have been much better if they had intercalated the fast and slow songs, yet some of the slower numbers do pick up the pace mid-song, so oh well. Are they maybe preparing us for a change in style?! And where is their usual sense of humor?! They are taking themselves too seriously this time around; WTF?! Even ''Perdidos En El Espacio'', which I thought would mock the 60s TV show, making fun of it as ''Isla De La Fantasía'' did on Pocho Aztlan, is whiny and serious.

On the other hand, the overall sound is Death Magnetic-compressed, to the point everything is at the same volume, making the drums sound hollow, and the guitar lack dynamics. The good thing is that the bottom end is now well balanced, as opposed to the overwhelming melange of yore. The mix is good though; now Brujo's vocals can be clearly understood, which is a first. Jesse, the new female singer, sings the fierce feminist anthem ''Bruja Encabronada'' by herself, and it turns out to be one of the best songs on the whole album. ''Políticamente Correcto'' finds Brujo lashing out at all the easily-offended, online PC crowd, and man is he angry! The album closes with the over 6' long and doomy ''Testamento 3.0''. All in all a good effort, but only if you don't mind the experimentation.

Fans of Brujería of old buy at your own risk. You might only enjoy the first 7 songs, and maybe the bonus tracks.