Raza odiada

There are very few perks to living in Southern California. We get smog, congested cities, and weather hot enough to cook the bacteria off a dog's ballsack. However, I had the pleasure of hearing Brujeria for the first time ever on a local FM radio (that's right, FM RADIO) station. And despite my living in SoCal, I don't speak more than a few words of Spanish (so keep that in mind during the review).

This album has the same feel as a concept album would have. It opens with an *extremely* right-wing politician (known as Wilson) giving a speech about immigration from Mexico. You hear what seem to be a group of Mexican terrorists chiming in, disagreeing with the politician’s comments, and then gunshots erupt. The first song kicks in. It's pretty good, and during the chorus Wilson is called a "pito," or to my understanding, a p****. The next song bursts in during a matter of seconds it seems, and you would think that it is the same song changing direction, unless you were to glance at the tracklisting on the CD player.

The third song is immensely catchy, and the catchiness is multiplied by a power of four during the chorus. This song harbors one of the two guitar solos on the whole album as well. Next in line is ‘La Migra (Cruza La Fontera II)’, which is about the border patrol, and it starts off with one of the terrorists speaking to an innocent sounding little boy. The chorus WILL get stuck in your head. LA MIGRA! LA MIGRA! Te pagan bien duro...LA MIGRA! LA MIGRA! Te pica el culo. Then you hear the wail of a crazed man, and the song continues in grand fashion.

The fifth song starts with a Pig Destroyer-esque sound to it, but that quickly changes once the chorus comes about, and, as experienced before, the groove escalates to extreme levels. It's an awesome song; there's nothing more to it. Vivo la Revolución!

‘Consejos Narcos’ starts with a heavy bass line, and if my memory is serving correctly, it is reminiscent of Strapping Young Lad's ‘All Hail the New Flesh.’ The only thing I dislike about this track is the chorus. It sounds like someone doing a rollcall, and it goes something like this: [Spanish Word]. Si! [Spanish Word]. No! [Spanish Word]. Si! ...Well, I think you get my drift. The seventh song is pretty groovy, but it really isn't anything out of the ordinary. ‘La Ley de Plomo,’ however, is a completely different story. It makes me want to howl "GROOOOOVVVVEEE!" as if I were a wolf. The background vocals have a pretty cool echo effect to them as well.

‘Los Tengo Colgando (Chingo des Mecos II)’ does indeed have a production change, but I probably wouldn't have noticed it until later songs if the previous reviewer had not pointed it out. The song isn't too special, and neither is the track that follows. Can you say "filler?" The pace starts to slow down with ‘Primer Meco.’ It is an atmospheric song, and it almost picks you up and throws you down into the middle of some revolt somewhere (I’m assuming Mexico).

‘El Patron’ has a cool bass/guitar tag thing going on, and it builds upon depressing stepping stones until it reaches the chorus, which has the trademark doom metal sound. The listener can hear a pretty simple guitar solo, which is also the last they will hear on the album. Track 13 could very well be filler, but ‘Padre Nuestro’ starts off with a screech and then turns doomy without sacrificing groove. The major problem here is that the production absolutely blows: the rhythm guitar is barely audible, which makes for an unpleasant listening experience.

The last track is an instrumental, and a very nice way to close the album. The bad production plaguing some of the previous songs has left the building, and at the close of the song the listener hears what seems to be the conclusion of the story, and the last few words are "Amen, Amen, Amen," as if to end a prayer.

Brujeria may not be the most technical band, but they do write some pretty entertaining music, and I sure as hell will be buying another of their albums. (It also doesn’t hurt that they happen to be into the music for the fun factor, rather than the money).