Mercado de almas

A band with a discreet history can only say goodbye discreetly. After some lineup changes and role rotation, the first huge difference we find is the performance of the new vocalist who, compared to the one on the previous album, sounds a bit less listless by his own merit and thanks to the mixing that acquired notable improvements. The same cannot be said for music as many run safely without risking or proposing. However, the keyboards are less subtle than ever, and the rhythmic pattern is more oriented to power metal than heavy/groove, although the occasional Purple-ish keyboards clash off with the aggressive vibe of the music. It feels like these guys refuse to give up part of their roots, perhaps because of nostalgia. There are no bad songs, they're all well written and apart from the american power metal mood we have to say that the vocal lines simply emulate any average vocalist common in that genre, so there's nothing to write home about. Compared to their previous two records, the band displays a more conventional style of power metal moving away from Manilla Road and getting closer to any power metal band of the 2000s. The opener may seem ominous and enigmatic, but it doesn't work as an adequate cover letter to warn the listener what lies ahead.

It is understood that Santos y Verdugos, the debut that marked their beginning as a power metal band, contains re-recorded songs from their progressive era, but it must be made clear that they still had not abandoned their kinda psychedelic roots at that time and that's why their song structures were a little more elaborate; while part of their essence still remains in Hombre De Hoy and here it feels like they were slowly losing it. Those songs also felt like they can pack a lot into five minutes and they actually seemed to last longer because of the substantial abundance present there, but their flaws were the lack of inspiration in some chorus lines and the vocal mixing. On this full-length the songs acquire much more force and the guitar tone is more aggressive, but in counterpart the songs are a bit predictable and formulaic if you look at the average length in the tracklist. The power ballad is the only one to hit the 5-minute mark: Ganar o Morir doesn't measure up to the glorious No Venimos Solos, it's just a safe mid-paced that runs comfortably like an average power metal ballad, then after three minutes the inevitable melancholic solo takes over to then simply repeat the chorus until the song says enough.

The mix isn't bad, the keyboards have different approaches and the Purple-ish tone seems shim-tight at times and feels unnatural. However, when the keyboards come in to add an epic feeling they do it well, as happens in Anestesiado, which is my favorite song and where Polaco Riedel shines whipping the bass as if there's no tomorrow. The bass intro on Falsa Faz is really solid and the vocal lines sound like a mix of modern heavy metal with a certain 80s cliché mood, but it quickly turns into an excellent hard rock piece full of energetic rides with the most hilarious lyrics. While I'm not averse to this effort, I suppose it can be pretty formulaic at moments with a few great songs and plenty of catchy lead attacks complemented by generic ah-ah-ahs with just the right ingredients. It's evident they just do it to satisfy rather than putting their mind to composing memorable and addictive classics, as happened with their previous output Hombre De Hoy which is often considered their most inspired work on the national big picture.

In general terms the solos are substantial enough to be considered hard rock, but they aren't unorthodox enough to be considered power metal because they don't leave their initial roots. It feels like a constant inner battle of "I want but I can't". The songs in structural terms are not very surprising or precisely elaborated, but they all flow with total naturalness and both the power metal moods of the first half and the heavy/rock of the second half share in common the delicious single guitar tracks and the raging choruses, and they are more reasons enough to enjoy this 40-minute LP without too much preamble. Its running time also adds points in favor despite the exposed defects. It's not a masterpiece but it's a pretty solid album that doesn't give rise to reproaches when it comes to a discreet farewell. Certainly they have taken pains to polish it but it doesn't give off the individual grandeur of some songs from their previous efforts, but since that was precisely their intention I guess they succeeded well.