Mientras las nubes ciegan la luna...

Oscuro Mito is a Bolivian black/folk metal band that formed in 2008. Although the band has been active for nearly a decade, they have only recently released their debut demo, Mientras las Nubes Ciegan la Luna…, which dropped at the end of February 2015 through the Bolivian underground label Catáfila Producciones. The demo features three tracks and runs just shy of fifteen minutes. While that’s not exactly an overabundance of recorded material to present, it seems that the band has carefully honed these three tracks into a vicious presentation of black metal with ethnic accoutrements.

Mientras las Nubes Ciegan la Luna…, which roughly translates to “When the Clouds Blind the Moon”, is a rather short affair, but Oscuro Mito manages to cram a lot of solid ideas into that time. From melodic, clean guitars and native woodwind instrumentation to rangy tremolo riffing and galloping, palm muted riffs, Oscuro Mito doesn’t rest on their laurels for very long. From the haunting, introspective introduction via melodic guitars and breathy flutes that mark the beginning of “Murmillos de Espectros” to the last stomping beat and thrashing outro riff of “Luz Naciente”, the band presents a constant flow of ideas while retaining a cohesive sound.

Despite being a debut demo, and from a country like Bolivia to boot, the production is rather strong. All of the instruments seem to be mixed quite well, with perhaps the only issue is when the atmospheric keys seem to drown out the guitars and vocals a bit during some moments. The demo begins with an ethnic sounding melodic introduction with squelched, raspy screams slowly being introduced, which ultimately builds into thrashy, galloping riff before dropping into fiery, yet rather simplistic trem riffs and double bass runs. A dash of native wood instruments flit in and out, adding an extremely authentic South American sound to the music. “Danze en Trance” follows with a strong focus on a stomping beat, clapping rhythms and chanting alongside a dissonant riff, which builds into a sound favoring mid-paced groove putting the native instrumentation in front of the metal. Finishing off the demo, “Luz Naciente” brings the black metal, native folk instrumentation and that dash of groove together for a catchy yet classy close.

Presenting a wide array of ideas, Oscuro Mito shows a promising future. The music on Mientras las Nubes Ciegan la Luna… seems like it would translate nicely into a longer format, so time will tell if the band can capitalize on their black metal and native folk amalgamation. While there is a decent amount of folk placed into the music, the band is still a black metal act at heart, so it’s unlikely that fans of overproduced, hurdy gurdy folk metal will enjoy this. But for those adventurous black metal fans, Oscuro Mito’s blend of black metal with native South American instrumentation shows a band with loads of potential.

Written for The Metal Observer.