Brujeria – Pocho Aztlan (2016)

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With a gap of sixteen years between their last release and this new one, today we have the legendary Brujeria and their extremely long awaited “Pocho Aztlan” release. Captivating and amusing audiences since 1989, this band has been touring since their last release leaving all album recording activities pending until recently. Featuring thirteen tracks, this release is exactly everything we could have expected from Brujeria, as the band takes on topics from immigration to the drug war, all with their unique view and spin.

Opening with a ritual as an intro, “Pocho Aztlan” instantly erases all the time without new music from the band and delivers a typical Brujeria anthem. Keeping their catchy and funny style intact the band talks in this song about how people born in the USA from Mexican parents are widely viewed by both Americans and Mexicans. Things move into catchy headbanging chorus sections with the powerful “No Aceptan Imitaciones” and its pummeling riffs. The band’s Satanic side is always present in this release, more evidently on tracks like “Profecia del Anticristo” and “Satongo”.

Sounding better than ever this release features some of the ‘cleanest’ (in terms of sound) Brujeria songs like the epic “Angel De La Frontera”. The band seems to have matured as their songs are a bit more involved and less direct than in the past, leaving more for the listener to interpret. However, the band has not softened up and their lyrics and music continue to be quite powerful and brilliantly delivered as on songs like “Isla de la Fantasia” and our favorite “Codigos”. The sheer power behind the guitar riffs and bass guitar line make their music as heavy as ever and perfect for a session of non-stop headbanging.

For fans of hyper catchy tracks like “Marijuana”, the band delivers the Punk-ish “Mexico Campeon” and its hilarious premise of Mexico finally winning a world cup. Closing with the ‘cover’ of “California Über Alles” by the Dead Kennedys renamed to “California Uber Atlan”, the band perfectly comes full circle in such a diverse and engaging release. We are quite pleased that after all these years, the band continues to have fun and deliver their messages in a very unique and bizarre way through their music.

As a whole “Pocho Aztlan” is definitely the Brujeria release that everybody has been so patiently waiting for. Juan Brujo has a very unique way of telling stories and ranging from gender issues (“Culpan La Mujer”), drugs (“Plata o Plomo” and “La Isla de la Fantasia”), to immigration (“Pocho Aztlan”), while the band has a unique way of bringing them alive in catchy and heavy ways. Perfectly released in times of social distress in the USA, this release stands to be another legendary entry in the band’s storied career.

Band: Brujeria Album: Pocho Aztlan

Label: Nuclear Blast Records

Release: September 16th, 2016

Official Site Social Media

Genre: Death Metal

Country: USA

Rating: 89/100
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