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)

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Ah, my countrymen are finally making me proud. The talent has always been there, breathing and beating in the underground of the grey city of Lima, but for a too long while it seemed like no one would ever come to the rescue.  Thank you I Hate!   Back in the day, the underground produced several good albums, the problem was; no band could get a decent recording anywhere. And I mean anywhere. Most of the metal demos that came out in the late 80’s and early 90’s sound like they were recorded in a fucking toilet, and though that added charm to some, it certainly took away the power of others.  

The last couple of years seem to have been good for underground bands from Peru. Not only is Sweden’s I Hate Records releasing Rituales Interiores (their self-titled debut came out through Peru’s Ogro Records and their sophomore recording Brujas del Mar came out through Austria’s PscheDOOMelic), but Germany’s World in Sound has also paid attention to the Andean nation and has released a pretty stellar album by rock and roll band El Cuy, and most recently the brand new effort by La Ira de Dios, which I shall be reviewing in a couple of weeks.

I knew Reino Ermitaño form a couple of years back. I am well acquainted with Brujas del Mar. I thought it had some very good songs. It dragged in certain moments but it was a solid effort. Very much like it, Rituales Interiores is also an album for the long run. When listening to it, you should let it simmer. Give it a couple of spins, give it a rest, then slip it in again.  It’s a dense affair. An involving listen.  It’s well-crafted classic doom with a naturist spin. Their approach and the female vocals remind a bit of the folk doom, or alchemical doom as they like to call it, of Jex Thoth. Especially in the first song “El Despertar”, where the brief solo has the same watery effect.

In all other respects Rituales Interiores takes the band to the next level. The recording is very good with a chunky guitar sound and the potent voice of Tania Duarte (check her go on “Hacia la Nada”) well-placed alongside that of the music which is the correct approach as it doesn’t let you get distracted by one particular aspect of their sound.  The organic approach of the recording is a perfect much to their stripped rock sound. It’s an ageless take on the genre that no matter which decade we’re in always sounds like it should; deep, heavy, mystic, and though rustic as old oak, actual. 

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