Sometimes an album turns up where I read the press release, do a double take, and then know I have to hear it and just hope it does justice to the words, and I am more than glad to say this does. Since Sepultura released ‘Roots’ there have been more than a few bands combining their traditional language and legends with metal to create something quite special (The Hu, or New Zealand’s own Alien Weaponry for example), and here we have Guadalajara-based ancestral folk metal group Cemican. The album title can be translated as ‘The Mayan Resistance’, while the lyrics are based on Mayan ideology, worldview, mysticism, and the universe. It contains various legends and stories of ancestral gods, the duality of life and death, as well as stories based on the band members, while the lyrics blend Spanish with Yucatan Mayan. Of the seven people in the band, it is worth noting that three are indicated as performing on “Pre-Hispanic instruments”, while one of these also performs rituals.
Here we have a band who are doing their own thing, yet somehow are also fairly mainstream in their approach, and it is no surprise to discover they have bene playing plenty of festivals in Europe as well as performing alongside the likes of Amon Amarth, Korpiklaani, Ensiferum, Eluveitie, etc. While folk metal is the main element of their music, we also get groove, power metal and thrash, and I cannot help but think that by not understanding the language and only hearing the music I am missing out on huge elements as I am sure these guys are highly visual when they perform. However, that does not take away from the enjoyment of the album as there are multiple layers here as one is never sure when we are going to hear additional instrumentation, or when the more basic groove or power metal approach is suddenly going to morph. Take “El Niño Que Contemplaba A Las Estrellas” for example, it is blasting along quite merrily for much of its existence, and then suddenly it has changed into something where the lead instruments are woodwind alongside traditional percussion, before it becomes something else entirely.
Apparenty the band was originally formed in 2006, and it would not surprise me if this, their fourth album, makes their twentieth anniversary very special indeed.
Rating: 8/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/CemicanMex
https://www.m-theoryaudio.com/