The first thing that is striking about this album is the artwork. A boab tree grows inside a human style head, while the volcanic scene below spews fire and ash. The next surprise for me was the melody.
The five piece from Santiago de Chile play a style of melodic doom. The album was released on Mexico’s Personal Records. There is a good video of them playing the track “Corrupted” live supporting Candlemass at the iconic Chilean venue Blondie which can give you a good view of the band.
In Chile, there is overwhelming support for bands like Iron Maiden and you can even see some of that influence here on this recording, particularly on the track “Iron to Rust”.There is an accompanying lyric video that brings the cover art to life in this pollution-inspired song. Santiago’s endless collection of mega malls would be an inspiration for the line “In shopping malls they dive into their wreck, Seas of plastic taking over their heads.”
“Indifferent to Others”, the single released in 2022 also takes on the polluting theme. Aside from the dirgy guitar lines used in the buildup to this, the real doom on the album comes from the end of the world themes explored and the differences between the words and actions of people.
The opening track “Neo Middle-Ages” talks about the concept of burning everything to the ground and starting all over again, with the human tendency to focus on what’s best for that person rather than the whole community, just like the witch hunts of the middle ages. It is a continuing theme through the album of the difference between words and actions.
With a brooding buildup into an anthemic melody across most of the songs, there are huge riffs on here across the eight tracks which conclude in just under an hour.
Production duties are handled by Seba Punete, guitarist with Chilean thrashers Nuclear. He has done an outstanding job here. The band put out the Live…Into Confusion was recorded just before the pandemic and people have been waiting for this debut full length for some time. This is a band to keep an eye on.
BlackFlow: Facebook
Release Year: 2023
Label: Personal Records
Category: Album
Country: Chile
Reviewed by Daniel Boyle
