Vim Fuego
Music is a mood thing. Some days, the ethereal sounds of a new age forest soundscape or the precisely orchestrated power of a Beethoven symphony fit the mood. Other days however, nothing but sick fucking grinding death metal will do the job. For a totally mindless death metal fix, Brujeria’s “Raza Odiada” is hard to beat.
The mysterious Mexican based supergroup makes absolutely no compromise to subtlety whatsoever. There’s no room for melody, harmony, or even much common sense. Other than a spoken intro by Jello Biafra, the entire album is performed in garbled Spanish. It’s pretty difficult for a non-Spanish speaker to figure out what is going on, but it’s immediately obvious to speakers of any language that it is unsavoury, brutal, and more than a little tongue in cheek.
It is possible to glean a little meaning from some of the tracks though. “La Migra” actually had a video made for it, with English subtitles. It is about the treatment Mexican illegal immigrants get when trying to sneak into the United States. Apparently, the US Immigration Service isn’t afraid to beat anyone, including grandmothers and the mentally infirm, and they enjoy a bit of sodomy on the side. “Padre Nuestro” is a new version of a song which first appeared as a seven inch single and appeared on the ‘At Death’s Door II’ compilation.
Juan Brujo and his crew learned how to play their instruments a little better than on the band’s 1993 debut, the delightfully chaotic ‘Matando Gueros’. They must have also made a killing in the narcotics underworld too, because the production sounds clearer too. A number of the songs are sequels to those from the first album, but the vital spontaneity of the band is retained.
It’s impossible to pick up more than a few words here and there, and while the songs are hardly identical to one another, there is little to be gained from trying to distinguish one track from another. Brujeria’s music is a mess, but you probably knew that before you picked up the album. Enjoy it for what it is- mindless fun.