A major presidential candidate has stood up in front of millions of people on TV and declared that the United States is losing their jobs to Mexico, and that he is somehow going to build a giant wall to keep the people of Mexico at bay because they are all drug dealers and rapists. This kind of ludicrous foreign policy is sure to come with some protest, especially from our Latin brothers and sisters on both sides of the border. This rhetoric has awakened a giant who hasn’t produced an album in 16 years. The brutal cabrones from Brujeria have just released Pocho Aztlan through Nuclear Blast Records, and it is everything that I like to hear in a band that has always dealt with social issues like politics, human rights and the horrible war on drugs.
Brujeria has always brought the pain when it comes to hard hitting pure metal. They have been defined as extreme metal in the past, but each of their albums has had elements of punk, thrash, grind, and death metal mixed in to create a brutal and heavy sound that stands alone. On top of their musical chops, they add a strong social message about the mistreatment and human rights abuses that Latinos face in the North American continent.
They have to perform with pseudonyms and bandanas covering their faces to hide their true identities, because of their message and the fact that they are angry Mexicans, (which white people fear almost more than angry black men). They have made it on to FBI watch lists as well, or so their persona claims. In reality they are a bit of a super group consisting of long time members Juan Brujo, Pinche Peach and Pat Hoed. The band features some legendary members as well: Jeffery Walker from Carcass, Shane Embry from Napalm Death, and Nickolas Barker from Cradle of filth. Dino Cazeras from Fear Factory was also a co-founding member but sadly didn’t contribute to this new album. All this precaution to hide their identities might seem a bit over the top, but taking the current political climate into consideration, it isn’t hard to understand why they are being careful. It might come in handy once that pinoché grabber, El Presidente Trump, takes office and starts building that shitty wall.
(we all know what happened the last time someone tried to build a wall to keep out a race of people they didn’t like)
Pocho Aztlan is a fantastic album that hits on all cylinders, and it is such a breath of fresh air to hear a band come to the table after a 16 year hiatus and show us that they are still every bit as potent as they were over a decade ago. Don’t be a puto, buy Pocho Aztlan or check it out on spotify.
