Glorious Sin

This is the new name of Mosquito… sorry, Moshquito, an important albeit not very known formation who started with a couple of demos in the late-80’s those vintage dynamic old school thrash. With consideration of the transformational times in the early-90’s it was probably not surprising that the guys chose to disband rather than acquire the modern trends.

Their appearance at the end of the decade was inaugurated by the full-length debut “Secrets”, a fine combination of modern and retro thrash which was faithfully reproduced on the sophomore “World's End”, the band staying in the vicinity of the spawned at around the same time old school revival movement without pledging blind allegiance to it. Apparently, this second coming was going to be more lasting, and indeed a third instalment (“Enter New Spheres”) came out three years later, one that also saw them adopting a more technical/progressive sound, quite comparable to later-period Death, only more thrash-based. “Behind the Mask” was a masterpiece of technical/progressive thrash/death metal, the band’s finest hour, with the shadow of Death still soaring above the entangled proceedings, one of the best tributes to Chuck Schuldiner’s (R.I.P.) legacy ever produced, with a wayward thrashy twist.

A climactic work this last showing was, and logically the band have voted to take a slightly different path after it, by also changing their moniker. Whether this alteration was for the better or for the worse, it would be up to the listener to decide, but after the opening title-track, which is vintage Death circa “TSOP”, the delivery shifts towards slower and less intricate ("The Need to Suffer", "The Abyss") waters until it reaches the semi-balladic "Eternal Dream". When another similarly-styled, tender composition (the flamenco-guided "El Conquistador") appears, the fan may start losing his/her interest in this opus which receives a speedier boost by the more energetic "Slave of Desire". This composition, however, won’t be enough for the hard-boiled metallers to stay with the album, especially when a string of peaceful, not very eventful mid-pacers follows suit, with another balladic acoustic etude ("La Tranquilidad") thrown in just before the end, making the closing "Shunned from the Light" shunning… sorry, shining a bit more brightly, if nothing else, with the more dynamic, also marginally more intriguing riff-patterns and the alluring Oriental motifs.

With the more aggressive thrashy veneer from the previous recordings completely missing, it’s a bit hard for one to see where the guys want to go with these more serene vistas; on top of that the Death shadow is only ephemerally felt here the approach now having moved towards a less dramatic, at times plain pensive, progressive death metal sound which doesn’t quite have an analogue on the contemporary metal scene. It’s always good when a band acquire a more individualistic face, but when this new image is not exactly for the better, one should probably advise them to bring back the old influences. This is by no means a terrible listen, in fact there are moments (the inspired speedy winner "Kill Them", to give one example) where the fan will nod enthusiastically in certain appreciation; it’s just that it would be hypocritical to applaud the guys whole-heartedly for the final product.

On the other hand, this is a work in progress, it remains to be seen how the band will evolve in the future. The mosquito net is a vast, full of surprises, phenomenon, at times treacherous and lethal, at others glorious and aboveboard.