Satánico Dramático 2011

"Dia De Los Muertos' debut album is freely available for download at http://www.ddlm.net/ - and that is very generous of the band, and what makes this especially cool is that "Satánico Dramático" is actually a pretty good album.

Although there are some death metal elements, and a track like "The Fifth Republic" is probably more of a death metal track, with blastbeats and growls to boot, my overall impression is that it is more of a thrash metal release. The riffage is primarily thrash metal derived, and, at time, it sounds inspired by the likes of Slayer. This being said, there is also a considerable amount of melody to some of the tracks, such as "Las Calaveras del Terror", "Sigo Vivo" and the closing instrumental "Satánico Dramático" (which seems inspired by the classic "Apache"), which took me a bit by surprise on first listen - and I am sure that melodeath along the lines of Carcass and Arch Enemy serves as a central source of inspiration (it's probably not a coincidence that Jeff Walker makes a guest appearance on this album).

It is no real surprise that this release is such a solid one for a debut album, as the musicians are very experienced and highly skilled with backgrounds in various prominent metal bands. The sound is unpolished, but not too raw for the style, yet dirty enough not to lose the feel of thrash metal authenticity.

If you love thrash metal, you should check this album out.

(review originally posted on metalmusicarchives.com)"