Brujeria – Esto Es Brujeria
Brujeria – Esto Es Brujeria
Nuclear Blast Records
Release Date: 15/09/2023
Running Time: 53:42
Review by Victor Augusto
7.5/10
Travelling back in time, to the year of 1995, there was a young 11-year fat boy very tired of hearing his brother listening to the same stuff all day long. Suddenly, this kid stopped what he was doing to pay attention to a strange music being played around. His first thoughts were how different it was to hearing something in Spanish that he could understand, despite the fact that he speaks only Portuguese. The second feeling was that he never heard something so heavy before. I am talking about me, living in Brazil when I first heard “Raza Odiada”, the second album from the Mexicans of Brujeria.
For many years after that, we lived with the mystery surrounding the band, not knowing who the members were. Just in the early years of this millennium, when they finally started to tour and play live, we could see who they were. I was lucky enough to see them twice and I remember having seen Jeff Walker, Nicholas Baker and Shane Embury in these concerts I went to. For sure it’s an amazing line-up to see.
My main impression after hearing the band’s new album is that they are doing almost the same thing that is their trademark. Things like low guitar tunes, which was something quite new when they started. The concept going deep on Mexican immigration, drugs and deep themes are something that made them sound very interesting and now they keep showing specific issues from their country.
Considering they were responsible for this sonority before many bands, there is no problem with repeating it. Maybe it could decrease the excitement when you are hearing something that you know what to expect from, but if it is the first time you are hearing it, forget what I’ve just said.
But there are new elements too. What I could mention as a highlight is the new female singer on ‘Bruja Encabronada’. This is a very brutal song and it is the second element I saw differently here. There are few songs going towards a Grindcore style, which I don’t remember hearing before. Maybe Shane Embury is responsible for it. The opening track shows this new element, also full of the dark humour they put on the lyrics. ‘Covid-666’ is another song which carries a kind of Punk Rock being played by a satanic Death Metal band.
In many moments you would feel like you have already heard that before from Brujeria, like in ‘Politicamente Correctos’ which reminds me a lot of ‘El Patron’, from their debut album. But as I said before, it could be good or bad depending on your expectations. The album closes with an Eric Clapton version of ‘Cocaine’, in which the lyrics were basically translated to Spanish, and the arrangements were changed to all heaviness of Brujeria.
“Esto Es Brujeria” is a good album and it is much better than the previous one. Maybe it didn’t make me so excited to hear, but I enjoyed the experience. It’s good to see Brujeria not letting their fans wait for so many years without a release.
‘Bruja Encabronada’ Official Video
TRACKLISTING:
01. Esto Es Brujeria
02. El Patron del Reventon
03. Estado Profundo
04. Bruja Encabronada
05. G A-K
06. Tu Vida Loca
07. Mexorcista
08. Bestia De La Muerte
09. Politicamente Correctos
10. Mochado
11. Perdido En El Espacio
12. Odio Que Amo
13. Testamento 3. 0
14. Covid-666
15. Lord Nazi Ruso
16. Cocaina
LINKS:
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