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EL CAMÍNO
Gold Of The Great Deceiver

Night Tripper (2013)
Rating: 8/10

When the ominous tones of el Camíno’s title track heave themselves out of the speakers I’m finding myself reaching for the black candles, so soaked am I by the dark, ancient atmospherics of this record. The opening black riffs literally smoulder with that oh so recognisable Black Sabbath hint of terror, and yet el Camíno is most certainly from a different genre than the British doom lords. In fact, I don’t really know how to categorise such a rust bucket of a record – an opus that literally smokes throughout with spitting attitude and nihilistic musicianship.

el Camíno hail from Sweden, but their sound is completely bereft of the usual buzz-saw riffing you’d expect and, if anything, this venomous five-piece have more in common with German thrash and gritty, armoured heavy metal than Entombed and the likes.

Gold Of The Great Deceiver is el Camíno’s second opus, following on from 2011’s The Satanik Majiik, and it’s one of those raw, sneering doom-laden records you feel should have been made decades ago. el Camíno are fronted by vocalist Daniel, who at times clearly takes his influence from Venom frontman Cronos. He’s joined by the gravelled guitar team of Nicke and Jimmy Sjöqvist, who in tandem create a fiery, yet very much blackened style of doom ’n’ roll that aches of British steel and German steam. On drums we have the unhealthy rattles of Mattias Johansson and alongside him the bass talents of Timmy Persson.

While never a fast outfit, el Camíno trawl the dregs of the thrash tank in search of oily remnants to add to their already foetid cauldron. Daniel’s vocals are infectiously raspy, murky and mocking, especially on the album’s high point, the seething, boiling ‘Småland’, which is an oozing monster of a tune featuring the classic lines, “We bring you all, to our darkness, to our home… home to warlocks, home to witches, and a werewolf” over a menacing guitar plod. It’s the sort of track Venom would come up with if they’d spent too many hours around a bong.

Elsewhere, we’re treated to the sinister yet trad-rock sounding ‘This Land Of Mine’ with its crust punk values, while ‘Torn’ creeps into the room on a Tony Iommi-inspired (Black Sabbath) megalith of a riff. It’s hard to believe these guys formed in 2003, and yet have hardly lifted a muscle to propel themselves out of the sweaty pubs. ‘Torn’ is very much Motörhead meets Black Sabbath, Daniel’s vocal of that corroded Lemmy variety, until he pukes out the words of “Satan take me” on the stoner groove of ‘The One Of Evil’; so ghoulish in its nightmarish trudge.

el Camíno make the likes of Down seem pompous such is their malicious intent. Such is the volatile vocal delivery of Daniel that he wouldn’t seem out of place on one of those old Destruction or Sodom records from the 1980s. But when you consider the hype surrounding Ghost at the moment, I’m of the opinion that el Camíno are far seedier when it comes to begrimed rock. Pigeon-hole this if you dare, but within minutes you’ll find yourself losing grip on this metallic beast and forever attempting to remove the dirt from underneath your nails.

Neil Arnold

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