Pushing forth from the underground come Hell Jefe y Hell Guapo joining forces to create the hellishy deviant “Goddamn Gringos”. these hellions are bringing back the timelessly sound of the first wave of black metal that is often looked over in today’s second wave worship. Aggressive, thrashy drums, melodicly hellish riffs and plenty of guttural vocals to complete this sound.
This is certainly a strong debut for the band, they don’t mess around or play any gimmicks here, simply laying down hard thrashy riffs and drums with plenty of vitriol. This is the type of album that proves that less is more which was the original intention behind this style of metal in the first place. Speed, aggression, while still keeping a bit of musical integrity. These guys crush those turistas of the genre who only stick around for the face paint and the chains, forgoing that and choosing a more anonymous approach that again, harkens back to the golden days of the genre.
There are some death metal touches in there as well, especially within the lyrics and the production approach. Gruesome and hateful lyrics, they draw gory imagery of war, death, mutilation, and all that gory fun found in early Cannible Corpse albums. There is this crisp and modern death metal approach with the production. The drums, especially the snare, have this deep snap to them, that pair well with the endless double pedal base and chugging riffs. Hitting that sweet spot of a blend of black, thrash and death metal. For me is the vocals that have this old school sound to them, kind of reminiscent of early Bathory and ’80s thrash metal without the high pitch squeals. Leaning more into the ghastly and blackened sound of those early days.
But that being said, this is just an all-around solid release that any true thrasher can get behind. From the old heads to the new kids, I think anybody will find themselves moshing to this and declaring their hatred for los gringos.