Mexican death metal outfit Hacavitz have at last returned with another filthy offering for fans of their raw and uncompromising approach with their third full length album entitled Metali Obscura.
While their first album Veganza was definitely a promising start and unlike many I thought the duo of Antimo Buonnano (guitars,vocals,bass) and Oscar Garcia (drums) improved on that record with their second album Katun, even though their attack on that disc was considerably more one dimensional. I have to admit that looking back on it now I think that my initial assessment of these two albums at the time might have been slightly off the mark especially when you add Metali Obscura into the mix.
The band's trademark lo-fi sound certainly isn't going to appeal to the ears of every metal fan, but if you like your death / black metal served up raw, hard and fast then there are few who do that as effectively as Hacavitz. Buonnano's blood curdling screams and savage sounding riffs are once again on full display here on tracks like "Most Unclean" and "Sulpher Winds" while the savage intensity of Garcia's whiplash inducing drum work fights to be heard through the somewhat murky mix. The problem here is that as uncompromisingly brutal as these nine songs are, they unfortunately offer the listener little in the way of actual variety. Many of these tracks just sound too interchangeable, so much so that you could put this disc on and listen to it all the way through and almost feel like you've listened to one long thirty seven minute song. I liked the more direct approach Hacavitz took on Katun, but too much of the material here sounds as if they were simply out to recreate that record rather than trying to push their sound forward.
In the end I have to say that while Metali Obscura isn't a total write off, it is what it is, which is to say that it's pretty much a letdown from top to bottom.
Track Listing
1) To Meet Again
2) Ye Parani Eojtocomol
3) Towards Black Pest
4) Hablan los Muertos
5) Most Unclean
6) Cauitl Glalticpac
7) Angstcraftwerk
8) Sulphur Winds
9) Gorajtzin Miqui