Dolorización

OCONNOR – DOLORIZACIÓN.

Oconnor’s third full-length releases marked a decline in creativity and riff-writing (in my humble opinion) and the band showed signs of becoming more accessible. Still, they were metal enough for me, so I decided to buy this album, seeing as I have bought their previous two albums and none of them had disappointed, I thought this one was going to be as solid as its predecessor, “Yerba Mala Nunca Muere” or even their incredible debut album, “Hay Un Lugar”.
There are still traces of the old Oconnor here with lots of Black Sabbath slow moving and staccato riffs, but there is also a hard rock vibe prevalent in the album’s production and especially the guitar tone.

The album starts off with three great numbers in a row; “Rezo a La Indiferencia”, “Una Pena En Godoy Cruz” and “Nada Nos Quieren Dejar” are some of the best tunes on the album. The second one being particularly more melodic and hard rock oriented than the other two which are moderately fast-paced and feature lots of enjoyable riffs backed up by consistent drumming.
There’s a cover from The Beatles, “Eleonor Rigby” and I could never get into it. It’s too soft and accessible for me. Still it’s heavier than the original shit recorded by The Beatles. “Vida Perra” is a nice mid-paced number carried by a nifty verse riff and catchy vocal melodies delivered proficiently by O’Connor. Then that cool verse riff mutates to a doom-like march riff when the chorus comes in and you are owned.

The album’s second half is as enjoyable as the first one and that does say a lot about the consistency of the album. We have the title track “Dolorización” which is probably the best ballad ever put out by the band. Yes, it’s even better and catchier than “Las Entrañas” and “Atrapado En La Red”.
Then comes “Yo Sé Que Sabes” which is an average mid-paced number by Oconnor standards and the chorus even when catchy it’s not something really outstanding. Next is “No Quisiste Entender” and FUCK YES!! Who blasted Black Fucking Sabbath on the stereo. This is complete “Volume 4” worship; imagine those riffs bound from the godly “Cornucopia” but with a slightly different approach. Lots of prevalent and thick bass lines, doomy riffs and lyrics dealing with inner struggles and the chorus is as evil as this album gets. Fuck yes! That vocal melody owns every other vocal melody on the album and then we are even assaulted by some random cryptic laughter behind the short solo. Next is “Ciencia Satanica” and another set of Black Sabbath worshipping verse riffs are unfolded nicely, the vocal melody on the verses is damn incredible and catchy but the dual vocal approach in the chorus is kinda weird and it takes a lot of time to get into it and fully appreciate it. The album ends awkwardly with “Solo Es un Juego” which is just a boring and crappy ballad. Where the title track succeeded this one fails, it’s not catchy and the lyrics are mediocre.

Caludio O’Connor is experimenting a lot with his voice; here he displays a cleaner vocal approach and not so damn screechy like his previous years in Malón and Hermetica. Most of the riffs are kinda watered-down if compared to the band’s previous albums, still we have some effective and punishing riffs thrown here and there. The drumming is quite average. I’m glad that this is the only album in which Javier Dorado performed because he was a standard mediocre drummer. The bass as always gives a Black Sabbath type of low-end.

Conclusion: so all in all, this is a competent release but not really something to die for. Oconnor did better, way better. But let’s face it, it was late 2002 and music was reaching levels of crappiness never heard before (still is) and while this release is not mind-blowing or even great, if we assume that it was recorded during an era where Slipknot are considered to be the kings of Black Metal, then this is a pretty good album, at least is not mallcore or groove metal.