Raza odiada

Continuing the tradtion of opening with an intro/skit, this album opens with a skit featuring Jello Biafra of the allmighty Dead Kennedy's playing Pete Wilson, former governor of California. Pete, or Pito if you will, starts of describing brown skinned hordes taking over whities job and going on until he announces a plan that would kill the mexicans...or something. Apparently Brujeria is in attendance at that rally, because they take offense to Pito's diatribe and subsequently gun him down in a hail of automatic weapons fire.

After this brief segue, the first song comes roaring out the speakers in traditional Brujeria fashion. The first thing I noticed is that the sound is a lot cleaner than the sound on the classic Matando Gueros. The main thing I noticed is the lack of bottom end that was present on Matando Gieros. Sure there are bass intros and breaks on this one, but they lack the power shown on the previous album. The drum sound is also tigher, mainly the bass drums. It seems that Greñudo discovered triggers. However, the drum sound isn't nearly as annoying as it is on the next album, the shit pile known as Brujerizmo.

Some of the riffing sounds very Fear Factory influenced. There are Fear Factory type parts on a lot of the songs, especially on 'Primer Meco'. That's not to say that this album sounds lie Fear Factory cast offs, because the songs are pure Brujeria in terms of structure, length, vocals, and overall atmosphere. The songs seem to actually be a more adventurous than they were on Matando Gueros. I know its hard to imagine Brujeria as 'adventurous', but the Fear Factory influences are actually a nice change of pace. Oh, and by Fear Factory influences, they definitely come from Soul Of A New Machine and Demanufacture. The punk influence is also still there, I'm happy to report. See 'La Migra' to hear what I mean.

One that thing that perplexed me, but didn't annoy, was some of the song titles merely being 'Part II' of songs from Matando Gueros. The only similarities from the 'Part II' songs and the originals is the title, with the music being totally different. Also, some of the songs seem to be rehashing ideas and come off as being filler. This mainly occurs in the second half of the album. However, The filler songs are still better than anything in Brujerizmo.

The bottom line is: The band sacrificed some of the atmosphere of the first album in return for more varied riff styles and a cleaner sound. Since atmosphere is a big part of what attracted me to this band, the lose points. Thats not to say that this isn't an entertaining and worthwhile listen. Worth seeking out.