Holocausto mental

Mastifal is nowadays one of the biggest names in the Argentine metal scene with a career spawning twenty years of work. Their blend of melodic death metal with thrash influences was quite the thing back in 2003 when Desde las Tinieblas came out, and even though melodic death metal’s golden times were long gone by then, nobody had ever played something like that before in the local scene.

Regardless of the fact that Mastifal went on to develop the aforementioned formula, its full-length debut portrayed a very different band with yet again different musical roots. Holocausto Mental is a thrash/death metal record that draws many elements from the Bay Area sound and even from some classic heavy metal acts, and while these influences outweigh the death metal ones, the latter are still undeniably clear. Marcelo Barreto’s vocals, while not fully delving into growls territory, have a quite harsh and raspy tone to them which makes him sound like John Walker from Cancer. The guitar work clearly gives away the death metal influences in the form of some frenetic tremolo riffs and passages, especially on the opening title track where the band manages to skillfully mix the Bay Area riffing style with the sheer aggression of death metal.

Honestly, there is nothing new here as the riffs are pretty much standard 80’s thrash riffs. However, what contributes to the catchiness and memorability of the album’s material is the way in which these songs are constructed and embellished, and it is and it is all owed to lead guitarist and founding member Diego Conte. The varied guitar work exhibited by Mastifal’s axeman is probably the strongest side of Holocausto Mental, and still, everything sounds as part of a whole, nothing sounds out of place; from the death metal onslaught of 'Holocausto Mental' to the NWOBHM airs on 'Fábrica de Monos' or the darker atmospheres on 'Cuando el Sol Crucifique Mi Nombre'.

Overall, the band performance is quite good and the production job is decent as every instrument blends rather nicely into what is the final mix. Some improvements in terms of overall volume can be heard on the 2010 reissue but the essence of the album and original sound remain almost untouched as these are very little changes. Even though Mastifal hadn’t yet reached its creative pinnacle, Holocausto Mental is still a hell of a solid album and shows Mastifal’s rawer side before the band’s sudden rise to fame three years later under different circumstances. If you’re familiar with bands such as Ripping Corpse, Demolition Hammer or Massacra you will surely find something worth of your time here.