REINO ERMITAñO
Rituales Interiores
(I Hate)

HARVEY MILK
Life...The Best Game in Town
(Hydra Head)

CAPILLARY ACTION
So Embarrassing
(Pangaea)

STALINGRAD
S/T
(Self-Released)

SLOW HORSE
Rusher
(Sophomore Lounge)

MAR DE GRISES
Raining the Waterhearts

(Firebox)

BIGELF
Cheat the Gallows 

(Custard)

MORE REVIEWS

Those paying attention to the happenings in the arcane world of South American underground metal may have been exposed to bands mostly hailing from either Argentina or Brazil. The reason is simple; both countries are historically rooted in Europe which has allowed for a strong cultural growth with influences (like, rock music) from those nations, instead of the Latin influences (like, salsa music) that has ruled the majority of the rest of South American nations. In that respect, Chile is the third most European Latin American nation. And considering the strong economic growth this Mapocho country has experienced over the last decade I’d bet we are going to be hearing a lot about Chilean metal in the coming months.

That’s not to say that this country has never had any representation. Back in the day Chilean metal was well-represented by Pentagram, the legendary extreme metal band that would later give birth to Criminal, a quartet that would end up signing for Metal Blade Records in the 90’s and that was the first extreme Chilean band to sign to a major label (BMG) in their country. But we are just scratching the surface there. Digging a hole into their soil we can find small gems from the 80’s and early 90’s; among the best we can list Sadism, Torturer, Atomic Aggressor and Necrosis. All worth checking out.

Waving wildly not to be left behind comes Mar de Grises, a Chilean band that has an entirely different take than those mentioned above, but that given their European gigging may cause a bigger stir than all of them combined. I do not have an exact date for the birth of this band, but Draining the Waterheart is their sophomore effort following their 2004 debut The Tatterdemalion Express. Their sound is fucking majestic, super elaborate, romantic and morose at the same time. Frankly, this album is quite an accomplishment. To begin with, Draining the Waterheart is lush work. The songs are big and the sound is bigger, which has allowed for every layer of music to have been carefully laid out. There is elegance at work here. Like every good doom-laden record based on poetry and romantic depression, the songs move -more like swim- effortlessly from place to place with plethora of arrangements as gas.

There is also the gothic aspect to Mar de Grises. Vocalist Juan Escobar not only has a deep cookie monster growl, but can drop some clean notes with vast confidence. He is also in charge of the keyboards which in many titles have a strong melodic driven presence giving the album a very melancholic feeling. And on “Wooden Woodpecker Conversion” Mar de Grises goes as far as including drum machines to pretty damn good results. Very good work. This one goes for Chile and for hoping that Mar de Grises opens the door to more underground talent.

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