Latin American Extremes

De La Tierra is a band that formed about two years ago. Despite being a new band, they have gathered tens of thousands of fans already, even though their debut just dropped. The large amount of attention they have produced is perhaps due to two band members’ involvement: Andreas Kisser of Sepultura and Alex Gonzalez of Maná. The collaboration is admittedly odd; Sepultura and Maná are from two different musical planets. However, De La Tierra’s music takes influences primarily from sludge metal, so the music works out very well. With the release of their self titled debut, De La Tierra proves to be a promising force in the genre of extreme metal.

Perhaps the most noticeable element in the music is that all of the lyrics are in Spanish. Since the vocals are sung in such a distinguishable manner, the lyrics stand out clearly. In fact, it’s reminiscent of bands such as Brujeria that have done the same thing. Sometimes, the Latin American influence is present in their instrumentals, such as the intro to “San Asesino” and the acoustic guitar work in the “Intro.” Overall though, the album is rooted in the sludge metal genre.

Heavy, doom-y and distorted guitar riffs are commonplace in De La Tierra’s music, and they are presented in mid-tempos with a dark atmosphere. The vocals are grunted and somewhat shouted, though they are surprisingly understandable. The drums are also well executed. The song structures are also catchy and memorable. Admittedly, the album itself doesn’t sound particularly amazing or overly impressive, due in large part that it sounds like something that’s been done before. At the same time, there’s very little to complain about, resulting in a lukewarm release that is neither terrible nor amazing.

In summary, De La Tierra is off to a good start with their debut effort. They hold a ton of potential for creating a music that is able to amaze and satisfy. To those that love aggressive sludge metal, this album is for you.