Raza odiada

Brujeria's second album, a fine release and a small improvement over their first, especially as far as lyrics go.

The production is cleaner, the drums sound tighter and the bass appears to be lower in the mix than in the previous Matando Güeros, but it can still be heard easily.

Overall, this album seems more playful and "experimental" than Matando Güeros. Some of the lyrics could be perceived as tongue-in-cheek humor. An example could be the mariachi-style screams in "La Migra."

Musically speaking, this album is slower than the one before it, and it's also catchier and features a stronger overall groove. The best example of this groove is probably found in "Revolución" and others would say "La Ley De Plomo" as well.

Lyrically, while dealing with roughly the same themes as Matando Güeros, it is far more diverse, and draws influence from other sources.
To be specific, the drug smuggling part is now heavily influenced by the Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar, whose extreme politcal power and influence in that country as well as his philantropic efforts are described in "El Patrón", and is again referenced in the fan-favorite "La Ley de Plomo", which was a famous concept by Pablo Escobar used when bribing foes (original phrase goes "plata o plomo" meaning "silver or lead", as in "accept a bribe or get killed").
Also, the lyrics now deal more with consuming drugs rather than just selling them.
"Revolución" along with the album cover are both influenced by the rise of the notorious EZLN ("National Liberation Zapatisa Army" in English) which happened in the beginning of 1994, between Matando Güeros and this album; "Revolución" attacks the Mexican politcal party PRI ("Institutional Revolutionary Party" in English) that ruled the country for over 70 years (until the year 2000, years after this album), too.
The "Satanic" aspect of the lyrics is also more varied. "Almas de Venta" deals with selling one's soul, while "Ritmos Satánicos" features a prayer/spell used by some latin occultists of different spiritual and esoteric backgrounds.
Finally, the lyrics still feature heavy discrimination, targeting indigenous Mexicans, blacks, whites, right-wing politics, left-wing politics, drug addicts, prostitues, christians, rockers, jews, and more...


The overall feel of this album is different from Matando Güeros. The previous album would inspire fear among the average non-metalhead catholic Mexican who lived through the years the media covered some of the lyrical themes presented in it, while this album is "lighter" in that aspect. It's also more "commercial" than the past album, with more emphasis on groove rather than raw riffs with a higher tempo as in Matando Güeros.

Some could argue that Brujeria started selling out at this point, but if one keeps an open mind, this could perfectly complement Matando Güeros.