RSS Feed


SACRIFICIO
Sacrificio EP

Iron Bonehead (2014)
Rating: 7.5/10

Forget the fact that this Spanish trio shares its name with numerous other extreme metal bands; what distances these guys apart from the others is their ability to breath fire!! Okay, so that’s merely a suggestion in one of the band photographs I’ve seen, but this is still a swelteringly hot debut EP that has been recorded in some subterranean hovel no doubt carved out by all manner of goblins and orcs.

Sacrificio plays raw black metal, this being the result of band members Juan C. Deus (vocals, guitar), A. Martin (bass) and Ángel P. Matesanz (drums) holing up together in some snowy shack and puking out the most foetid lump of clattering metal they could think of.

Originally recorded as a demo cassette but now available on 12” vinyl, the EP offers up six tracks in the name of Satan and Sacrificio delivers it in typical prime evil fashion, combining the oily menace of Bathory with old Sodom and the expected Venom with murky strays into Mayhem, Hellhammer etc. You know what you’re going to get, yet what I like about this EP and the sound in general is not just the creaking atmosphere but the slower, brooding passages which are only illuminated by the flamed torches the trio carries while wandering aimlessly through the cold pits of gloom.

There are no real frills on offer, except of course the virgin’s blood which spills from the lips of Juan C. Deus as he belches forth another grim tale of destruction and vile seduction, but the riffs are catchy in their dank state and the percussion as one would expect from such a band is right on the money as it sort of clambers around the walls like a flat echo scrabbling in the inky darkness. I’d still rather listen to this sort of despicable noise than something too glossy and with the likes of ‘Vástagos De La Abominación’ and that catchy title track, I’m smothered by the lo-fi jollity of Sacrificio.

Lyrically I have no idea what the band is on about as it’s all in Spanish, but I doubt very much that it’s yarns of love and joy. When the doomy sprawl of ‘Ungido En Sangre’ pushes itself into your face like an unseen spectre, I’m utterly convinced that Sacrificio are as genuine as they come, even if secretly afterwards they all return to their parents’ house for a cup of cocoa.

One must always remember that bands of this ilk are not here to change the world, let alone their chosen genre. Sometimes you just have to sit back and inhale the black smoke that billows from the black wings of these warriors. It’s dirty, raw black metal delivered mid-tempo and as musty as the grave. Deal with it.

Neil Arnold

<< Back to Album & EP Reviews



Related Posts via Categories
Share