Somewhere along the line, someone forgot to tell Ill Nino that nu-metal died a slow death nearly a decade ago. Yet here they are, nearly 15 into their career, and the New Jersey band are still delivering their brand of Latin infused metal. To be honest, these guys always had a great melodic sense, tossing in some cool Latin elements into their mix of heavy metal, industrial, & hardcore. Till Death, La Familia is their latest CD, and once again the band has done a solid job mixing together all the familiar elements and created some memorable metal tunes that might sound a tad dated, but are still pretty enjoyable. "Not Alive in My Nightmare" throws some industrial sounds into what is otherwise a pretty heavy tune with soaring clean vocals and angry shouts. "I'm Not the Enemy" is another tune with a catchy chorus, and "Blood Is Thicker Than Water" sees the band tackling somber lyrical issues while delivering a pretty solid & hook laden heavy ballad. This formula continues on throughout the rest of the album; chugging riffs, the occasional explosive guitar solo, soaring clean vocals, violent hardcore styled growls/bellows, and a smattering of electronics. The lyrics are pretty dark and seemingly personal, so I'm wondering if the band are telling some life stories here as well. The more uptempo, grinding tunes like "World So Cold", "Pray I Don't Find You", and "Breaking the Rules" work pretty well, contrasting their extreme nature with some pop hooks, though I would have liked to hear more of their Latin roots coming through on this album, as "Payaso" is one of the rare tunes to feature those native rhythms that were so prevalent on their earlier albums.
Overall, Till Death, La Familia is a decent album from Ill Nino. It doesn't offer up any real surprises and sticks to a familiar formula with some of the songs having a sort of 'sameyness' about them, but fans of the band should should enjoy it nonetheless.
Track Listing
1) Live Like There's No Tomorrow
2) Not Alive in My Nightmare
3) I'm Not the Enemy
4) Blood is Thicker Than Water
5) Are We So Innocent
6) Pray I Don't Find You
7) World So Cold
8) Dead Friends
9) Breaking the Rules
10) Payaso
11) My Bullet
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