Torturas de almas oscuras

While I can appreciate bands like Cannibal Corpse or Suffocation, brutal death metal is not a style that I have gotten particularly invested in. As such, when I found “Torturas de Almas Oscuras”, I expected to give it one listen and move on. However, I was surprised to find myself listening to it over and over again, and I can now confirm that this album is a great example of brutal death metal done right.

The writing on this album is fantastic. Being brutal death metal, the writing is very heavy and precise, with each drum hit or guitar chug being very deliberate. The album is structured very well. It starts with a somewhat cheesy but really creepy intro with screaming, growling, and lightning cracking. After this introduction, the album surges into a collection of chaotic yet well composed tracks. Each song has its own section that makes it unique from the others. Songs like “El Infierno de Dante” and the title track have interesting phrasing with occasional time signature changes. “Cacería” contains hints of melody like rays of sunlight piercing through the grates of a dark sewer, and “Engendro” closes the album with a ridiculously heavy outro. The album truly never gets boring, and it does not overstay its welcome, being less than thirty minutes long.

Getting into the instruments, the heart of the album in my opinion is the guitars. With most brutal death metal, I tend to get bored of the same old heavy, chuggy, punch-a-hole-in-the-wall riffs, but the guitars have a ton of variety. They explore their full ranges with heavy low sections, flowy middle sections, and the occasional high section or harmonic thrown in. The bass also gets a chance to shine with solos on “Pecados Capitales”, “Jolo”, and “Inhumano”. The bass also avoids the trap of merely mimicking the guitars, with one example being the harmony on the title track. The only instrument that could use more variety in composition is the drums. While they do have some variety and several great fills throughout, the drums do heavily rely on the hammer blast most of the time. Overall, this album’s writing is very heavy and punchy, with masterful variety in the guitars and bass, with the only real issue being slight overuse of the hammer blast.

Regarding production and sound, there are no real complaints. The guitars are front and center, being extremely articulate and clear in the mix. The bass has a very unique sound, being snappy and distorted while reserving the bass end for the guitars. The drums sound delightful, with soft cymbals, punchy snares, and a satisfying kick. I am especially glad that the snare is not too loud or obnoxious, as several brutal death metal albums I have heard in the past had really annoying snares that distract from the actual composition. The vocals draw most of their sound from the Corpsegrinder style, but they have a lot of variety to them as well. There are pig squeals, low growls, and screeches throughout the whole album, which further keeps the album from growing stale.

Though my knowledge of brutal death metal is somewhat limited, I would say that albums like “Kill” by Cannibal Corpse or even “Humanure” by Cattle Decapitation are pretty similar to this album. My favorite song off the album is the title track. It has an interesting time signature change to 3/4, unique phrasing, and a killer riff right at the start of the track. Even though I am not a big brutal death metal fan, I find this album really solid. To anyone who is similarly put off by brutal death metal, I highly recommend giving this album a shot. It has amazing variety, unique songs, and is short enough to listen to multiple times in a row.