Here we have the debut release from Spanish brutal death metal band Strappado, and for the most part it does exactly what one expects from a group operating in the genre. The vocals are deep and throaty, drums are all over the place and driving everything forward, while guitars are locked in tight. One thing which does stand out for me with this album is the way they are prepared to slow things right down to doom or even sludge speed, so they can then crank it back up to the pace it needs to be at. This use of dynamics is certainly a massive strong point for me as some bands tend to forget there needs to be a contrast to provide the emphasis. The line-up is Oscar (guitars), Disjorge (bass), Fran (drums) and Carlos (vocals), which is interesting as the dual guitar sound and incredibly heavy rhythmic attack if very much a key part of the sound so don’t see how they can reproduce it live unless there is another player. Disjorge is an interesting player, as there are times when he moves to chords for emphasis, and at others he is plucking the strings hard to provide a different element.
The one thing really letting them down is the lack of a strong producer sat in the chair and capturing what this band is about, and the mix is lopsided in favour of drums, but given this is a debut release all that can be amended in the future. Well worth investigating if this style of brutal metal is of interest.
Rating: 7/10
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/StrappadoBDM/
https://www.comatosemusic.com/