Intermundia

If you had asked me a couple of years before what I thought about Intermundia, Mastifal’s fourth studio release, my opinion would’ve been completely different, which was quite silly if you consider that Intermundia does not musically differ a lot from its predecessor Carnívora. Still, there were a couple of changes that made me go''no-no'' when it first came out and although it’s far from being one of the best efforts to be found in Mastifal’s modest repertoire, I’ve actually come to look at it with rather different eyes.

Intermundia builds on the down-tuned, groovy melodic death metal formula that the band embraced on its previous album. The news this time come in the form of a bigger metalcore influence, which materializes in the form of breakdowns, clean vocal lines and more straightforward, though longer, song structures. This was what made a lot of people turn their backs on the band back when the album was released, and it was certainly not the direction that I was expecting them to take after the somewhat-average but still rather-solid Carnívora. Many songs just chug away with boring and unconvincing riffs that don’t incite to anything else rather than to reach for the skip button. ''Puertas y Laberintos'', ''El Puñal'' or ''Tiempos Violentos'' feature uninventive and lackluster one-string riffs and power chord-chugging that just fails to evoke any feeling on the listener. The fact that the songs clock in at an average of five minutes doesn’t help to make the listening experience much more enjoyable either.

At any rate, Intermundia is not without its merits, and one can still found a few moments of brilliance throughout the album. For one, there is a much more effective employment of guitar leads and solos, which are better though-out this time around and help to alleviate the prevailing feeling of monotony conveyed by the album. ''La Red'' kicks off with a melodic lead that goes back to Clayman-era In Flames and it also incorporates plenty of clean guitars effects that provide the song with a stronger atmosphere than that of any other track on the album. ''Flores Muertas'' is probably the most ear-catching song on Intermundia, which in spite of having lousy structures features such a memorable and catchy chorus that you’ll probably go to bed humming the riff or the melodies on it. Again, In Flames’ influence is rather evident on the chorus' main melody.

Another interesting fact about Mastifal’s fourth studio release is that it’s the first one to showcase vocalist Miguel Maciel’s clean vocal approach. His mid-range throaty grunt was all that had been heard since he entered the band back in 2002, so it was quite a novelty by the time Intermundia was released. Luckily, Mastifal didn’t go for the ''whiny'' (no offence meant, I also listen to metalcore) clean vocal approach that is most common in most metalcore and, to a lesser extent, some melodic death metal bands. Rather, Maciel pulls off a rather convincing performance with a nice and soft mid-ranged voice that makes him sound like Tomi Joutsen of Amorphis fame, only that slightly lower. His voice and the clean guitars on the opening of ''Flores Muertas'' actually succeed in conveying a bleak and melancholic atmosphere, if only for a short time.

Unfortunately, Intermundia enjoys the (quite understandable) fate of being considered the black sheep of Mastifal’s discography. The lack of memorable moments, solid songwriting and hooks that would prompt the listener to not deviate his attention from what is playing make this album a waste of talent, as Mastifal has demonstrated twice (and I’d dare say thrice) that they’re more than capable of doing better than this. Needles to say, Intermundia is not the best album to start listening to Mastifal, but if you're familiar with albums such as Reroute to Remain or Stabbing the Drama, you'll probably find something worth of your time here.