DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN
Ire Works
(Relapse)

ROSETTA
Wake/Lift
(Translation Loss)

OM
Pilgrimage
(Southern Lord)

SICK PORKY
Ancestral
(Zonda)

RED LIMO
Soulful Attack EP
(Self-Released)

AUTOMATIC 7
At Funeral Speed 

(Mental)

DON'T MESS WITH 
TEXAS
Los Dias de Junio

(Moonlee)

MORE REVIEWS

Besides Brazil, the Latin American country leading the way in rock is Argentina. In part because their usually strong economy and mostly because historically the country has had a rich European tradition that has been much closer to rock music than the Latin based genres that have influenced the rest of Latin America.  Those who ever dared to explore Spanish sung metal music may have had contact with the most obvious players; back in the 80’s there were Spain’s Angeles del Infierno and Baron Rojo;  Argentina’s V8, Hermetica among a few others and more recently, during the early 90’s,  the neo classicism of Rata Blanca. But underneath them, there has always been a strong underground current of bands that’s for the most part has come and gone without shame nor glory. Chile went all the way down to world class death metal with Criminal who via Metal Blade released Dead Soul ten years ago.  But for the most part Argentina has always been ahead, cultivating genres as soon as they were spontaneously spawned anywhere in the globe.  They’ve already given us the worldwide class stoner of Los Natas, and now come Sick Porky, who play it as well, if not better.

On some levels though Sick Porky seems much more influenced by stoner rock in general and not so much by stoner deities Kyuss. This may be an advantage or a disadvantage depending on what you prefer and on what your interpretation of what good stoner/doom or whatever is.  Sick Porky hails from the capital city of Buenos Aires and has been together for over ten years; their time together has gelled them as a band. Their sound is loose and groove-laden; the riffs are chunky and meaty, bouncing up and down like those of the best stoner rock bands. The production is solid but there are two disadvantages here; like is the problem with many Latin bands, this is a region lacking solid rock singers.  In the case of Sick Porky, the vocals of Carlos Villafañe are a OK. Nothing spectacular, not much to talk about. Villafañe does his job properly, and his pipes are strong enough, but he clearly needs to put more hours of practice before he can carry the band with more gusto and vocal presence.  The girth and volume are there, but is obvious he can step up his game. Second problem I have with Ancestral; the work of Agustin Rocino, whose duties include acoustic guitars, programming and keyboards, gets buried under the thick riffs of Jeremias Stutz. And there goes Sick Porky’s psychedelic side, which could have been exploited to much benefit in several passages, like in the middle-song percussion heavy slice of “Exodo”. All bitching aside though, Sick Porky has here an album good enough to compete with the work of any American or European stoner band. Solid songs all around.

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