Banda de la Muerte – Banda de la Muerte
January 3, 2012
In recent years, South America has seen a rise of promising metal bands popping up from all around the continent, with stoner, sludge and doom metal being a popular trend. Banda de la Muerte entered the scene with their self-titled debut in the year 2009 and consists of band members from Jesus Martyr, Taura, and Buffalo. During the new year, they will be recording material for a new album.
The band’s debut is predominantly a stoner rock album that isn’t trying to be anything other than a fun, upbeat album for lighthearted enjoyment, and it definitely delivers its promise. One could easily compare this to an act like Queens of the Stone Age, though this album is heavier, and for some reason I’m reminded of Los Natas at times, though I’m sure that this is purely due to the Spanish vocals. It’s not necessarily an album that you’ll remember for a long period of time, and being as straightforward as it is lends to it being rather disposable, but it still has a lot of good qualities. For one, the riffs are really crunchy, and some end up being quite catchy (take ‘Dos Huesos’, for example). The drumming is particularly varied and each piece of the kit is used to its maximum potential within the musical context, adding a fierce intensity to the overall sound. The low-end of the mix has been approached generously, giving a greater bass presence to the album. The album flow is smooth, though ‘Madera sagrada’ is a track that’s majorly out of place as far as the rest of the album content is concerned. It shows the band member’s roots as artists that played music far more aggressive than they play now. Still, I can’t really complain that much, as it’s quite an awesome song.
Banda de la Muerte show lots of potential in the South American music scene, and I do wish them luck. They have a really good sound, one which would easily accompany any binge drinking excursion you choose to undertake in the near future. I feel that if they added a little bit of a trippy atmosphere to their songs, they’d be a very definitive stoner rock act. They’re definitely an act to follow.
[Retired] Kaleb Daleszak's like every other music listener on the internet, except he watches YouTube videos of people riding elevators. That means you can always trust his opinions.
