Brujeria

“It means Witchcraft.”

“This band is fucking crazy man.”

…. my friend told me as he translated the Spanish for me while we listened to a burned CD – of the lowest quality (much expected for underground music in 2001.)

“They are a bunch of Mexican Cartel guys, you know, Narcos. They murdered a guy and put the photo on their album.” He tells me with a serious look of almost shock, but one where he can’t help but smile at how outlandish it was.

I had my doubts, but after some digging on his family computer, he found the album cover.

There it was.

A bloody severed head staring right at out with the word BRUJERIA across it.

“Witchcraft.” He explains to me. “It means Witchcraft.”

He opened up Limewire and searched for more songs to download as we continued to plow through CD’s of music and chat about nothing.

Summers in the Desert don’t leave much to do when it’s 110 degrees out other that let the fans cool your sweat and ponder about Narco Terrorist Metalheads wandering around the desert with trucks of Cocaine and Guitars.

This is of course the idea, right?

We ate some food while we waited for another friend to arrive, my friend showing me other Spanish speaking bands (Jaguares being the one I appreciated the most)

It wasn’t long until his Limewire downloaded the entire album.

MATANDO GÜEROS (1993) opens with a drug deal that clearly does not go well and my friend leans over to me, “I’m telling you dude. Crazy shit.” As “Leyes Narcos” plays, blistering through it’s violent attack of blast beats, I couldn’t help but think… yeah. Maybe this is the real deal while Juan Brujo violently regurgitates his vocals into my head.

Track after track of blistering metal play as my friend translates and I confess that I kind of like it. He is, of course, amused by this. “I don’t think they’d like you man.” He tells me with a chuckle.

It wasn’t long until his Limewire downloaded the entire album.

I ask him if it’s because I am Straight Edge (I was for many years) but he laughs at this.

“No dude!” He laughs as he slaps his thighs along with the drums, “Kill Whitey is basically the name of the album man. It part of their thing.”

This of course, is not anything I would have even considered. Slightly disappointed with this knowledge, I listened on as our other friend finally arrived. Maybe this IS real, I mean, a bunch of Scandinavian teens really did murder people and burn a bunch of churches.

What’s to say some guys in a Cartel DIDN’T decide to start a band?

As we chat about the band our third friend stops the conversation in its tracks.

“What the fuck are you talking about? Of course it’s not real.”

He has our friend get back on the computer to find the file with the album art. Now fully loaded with all 3 albums (at the time) and more importantly, band photos.

He points to a photo of the band resting under a tarp with a cartoonish amount of alcohol.

“That,” His finger almost smacking the computer screen, “is the bass player from Napalm Death.

There is no fucking way he is hanging out with fucking cartel guys. I’m pretty sure guys from Faith No More and Carcass are right there too.”

Oh shit, I think to myself.

I don’t know much about Napalm Death but I am pretty sure they are British.

Now an argument ensues as Brujeria is back on the stereo. Is it real? Maybe just Juan was in the Cartel? It’s all bullshit. At some point the arguing comes to an abrupt end when the opening and title track from Raza Odiada comes on.

It is quite clearly Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedy’s) in a skit, ending with murder.

As we head into the garage my friend pauses for a moment,

“I like to believe it is real.”

Brujeria Live at Transplants Brewing Co. 2022

Trying to explain to my friends at the Brewery about what they should expect for a Brujeria show is hard to explain. How serious do they take it? Will Juan be swinging his machete around on stage like they have seen online? Will the crowd be violent? Do they always wear masks? What exactly is the deal here? Seems popular though.

But I suppose that is the biggest benefit of wearing a mask in a band. When you are out of it and hanging out at the venue before the show and for soundcheck, no one will recognize you. Mostly.

I wouldn’t want to spoil the fun for you and tell you something like, Brujeria is nothing but professional, polite and pleasant.

No. They are a bunch of crazy fucking Narco Terrorists who happen to have a metal band and put on a wild show.

As the lights from the roof fill the stage with red, white and green – a very recognizable severed head can be seen atop a flagpole, proudly holding the Flag of Mexico.

The packed building beings to cheer as the band fills the stage, each dressed in their own garb.

We get the foot-soldiers, clad in black with black masks: El Criminal (Criminal) on Guitar and Hongo Jr. (Cradle of Filth, Dimmu Borgir) on the Drums.

Next comes Fantasma, complete with stark white tube socks, kicks, blue mask and matching blue button up plaid shirt; only the collar buttoned of course.

The guitars and bass hum with current as the band readies themselves, the one and only Juan Brujo crosses the stage to wild cheers.

Wearing his signature leather vest and machete, complete with his Flag of Mexico bandana mask he raises his hands to the crowd as well.

His belly is now an almost point of pride as he welcomes the crowd into the world of violent Narco Terrorist Metal.

The crowd begins to get more rowdy as Pinche Pete leaps onto the stage, dressed in a mechanics jumpsuit. Looking something like a cross between Michael Meyers and a Mechanic, he raises his arms, enticing the crowd to get wild. He leaps back and fourth, pure energy, before a single note is played-

A true Hypeman, in the highest of form.

The guitars and bass hum with current as the band readies themselves, the one and only Juan Brujo crosses the stage to wild cheers.

Wearing his signature leather vest and machete, complete with his Flag of Mexico bandana mask he raises his hands to the crowd as well.

His belly is now an almost point of pride as he welcomes the crowd into the world of violent Narco Terrorist Metal.

They look almost like an uber-violent Village People.

Probably just as much cocaine, but a lot more murder.

Without warning, just like the real world violence they have turned into art, they begin.

They know how to play and they play damn well, well executed (pun intended) and relentless. There is also a fine balance of what tracks they play. Just as the blast beats may become exhaustive, they avoid the trap of what too many bands of this nature do. They slow down. They mix it up, and right as you are ready to pick it up, they slam into full gear again.

They know what their crowd wants and keeps the set running back and fourth between new and old, the heavier and the more exploitative. Tracks have been left in the mix for the full experience. Gunshots, voiceovers… and they act it all out.

Then, just when you think the set is winding down, they have just shifted gears to prepare for the next portion of the trip.

Slamming through track after track, the humor of the band is much more apparent some 30 years on. Microphones swinging like dicks, Pinche Pete becoming a sacrifice to the Cartel as they act out charades on stage, chopping up drugs, making grand declarations… all with the same fun and excitement you can have with a quality B Horror film.

That is the best way I can describe what it was like seeing Brujeria live in 2022.

Like putting on your favorite Exploitation/Horror VHS. It’s not for everyone, but if it is, you will struggle to have more fun at an “extreme” metal show.

Goatwhore

Goatwhore is a band that has been on my radar for quite some time. Their first two albums, Eclipse of Ages into Black and Funeral Dirge for the Rotting Sun came out when I was in Highschool, and various tracks were always in the mix when I was hanging out with my friends. Filling the background while we partied in the desert, Goatwhore was around while we were keeping the summer nights busy.

At the time especially, there seemed to be this revival for Black Metal bands as the children of the internet discovered they chaos and insanity around the scene. Couple this with Limewire, Napster and burning CD’s, we always had a constant flow of CD mixes.

While I got VERY deep into some of the more ambient Black Metal and even deeper into Grindcore, Goatwhore always floated around the background. I honestly didn’t appreciate the band as much as I should have but more significantly, in the years since, the band has grown as much as I have.

Teenage me just wanted a barrage of blast beats and repetitive tracks of either 30 second portions or 8 minutes, Goatwhore was going for something else. Something more.

While I appreciated the rawness of the early work, it is 2009’s Carving Out The Eyes Of God that really stands out to me as a shift in the band.

Unlike a lot of bands that shift completely away from their earlier work or try and hide it, Goatwhore embraces it all and doesn’t simply move forward- but GROWS forward.

I would love to bullshit you and tell you that I realized this in 2009, but that just not what happened. At the time I was getting back into some of the Desert Rock scene, but I preferred my Metal to be as fast and heavy as possible.

I don’t care that they remind you of Venom. I don’t care that you’re telling me they are one of the best. I think they are alright and won’t give them enough of a chance for a couple of more years.

“They are alright, but I want faster.”

But you love Venom and the classic Black Metal… they do all that and more.

“So? They are no Venom”

Shame on me.

I had regulated them to “Yeah they are pretty good. I saw them at Ozzfest”

Shame on me.

Sometime around 2011 or 2012 they popped back on my radar with streaming music and (sorry) pirating. Seeing that they were touring (Blood for the Master was released in 2012) kept them even higher on my radar again, and there they stayed for years, occasionally showing up on Black Metal Radio (is that site still thing?)

I missed every opportunity to see them, while I slowly realized how completely excellent, they had become. Gone were the days of emulating your favorite bands or adhering to a scene or whatever stupid fucking ideas I had in my head.

No. It had become undeniable they were one of the best American Metal bands around and I had left it in the background for years. Shame. On. Me.

When Vengeful Ascension (2017) was released, it caught my attention in a way they had not before, or at least in a long time.

Holy shit, what was I doing sleeping on this? Going back through their catalogue I understood the sheer excellence of Constricting Rage of the Merciless that I had completely missed.

Now, standing before the band, all the way from Louisiana, here in my desert, experiencing them live –

I could not have been happier.

They aren’t a band caught up in themselves. At all. What I got to experience was a band in top form. A band having fun and keeping it heavy. Embracing their thrash roots in Black Metal, a genuinely, almost perfect mix of First Wave with the Millennium Revival.

They didn’t go full Satyricon into rock, yet the bounce is there. Everything you can want in a Thrash based Black Metal band. Groove. Blasts. Tremolo used but not abused. You can bang your head, mosh or stand around with your arms folded, pretending you’re too good to have fun – but they aren’t.

No.

So now, after years of not giving them the attention they deserve I can only think…

“Yeah Venom is good, classic – but have you heard Goatwhore?”

Unidad Trauma

Coming up from Tijuana, Mexico, Unidad Trauma (Trauma Unit in English) was a big fucking surprise. Having never heard of this “opening” act before, I was stunned and they land FAR beyond any title of “opener”.

Sticking with a sort of an Evil Doctor/Executioner theme, the anti-human and torture theme comes through clearly. Like horror film villains on stage. Fitting for a Brujeria show, although more serious.

Clad in black with executioner masks on, they take what could be a cheesy look and wear it well. I assume is this because they deliver HARD.

Song after blistering song composed of the sort of DeathGrind that treads into all of the areas you hope it would, if you’re into DeathGrind. The best part is that they never lose sight of what they are doing best.

Sardac (Dr) Murillo is a furious machine behind his drumkit, relentless but never boring. My younger self always appreciates furious grind beats and some clean blasts but this can easily start to blend into such a repetitive cycle.

This is not the case here. Murillo keeps it fresh while hitting the moments any metal fan would expect to hit but with enough variety to keep you deeply invested. Any drummer will appreciate just how clean intentional his work is, straying away from some of the grindier beats sloppiness and focusing on where he wants you to understand the beat, and how he wants you to process it.

It is almost like a brag but he lets the music speak as a whole.

Garret (Dr) Davis and Oscar (Dr) Padilla work in a beautiful but harrowing unison. Padilla drops his guttural vocals over this mix as they weave the fabric of their notes around each other, like a dark shroud.

The tone here is something that can at times complement one another in harmony, and at other times hit a low crunch while one walks about the other.

This balance between Harmonic Death Riffs without ever getting soft and the more Grind crunches are a thing most bands of similar genre inspired bands rarely achieve.

Lastly, cutting through the crowd like a Gigli saw through the bone, is the bass work of Daniel (Dr) Morales. If the guitarwork is a shroud woven around the percussion, the bass is the chain that holds it down.

Like a dance, he is working together with Davis and Padilla to not only compliment their work but fills in empty space as he takes a walk through the darkness that they weave.

This is a band that works so well as a whole and I cannot recommend them more. I fully expect to see them making waves in the scene and beyond.

Brujeria is signed to Nuclear Blast and can be found at brujeria.com and IG @brujeria_oficial

Goatwhore is signed to Metal Blade Records and can be found at goatwhore.net and on IG @goatwhorenola

Unidad Trauma can be found on IG @unidad_trauma and support their work at unidadtrauma.bandcamp.com

More Concert Blogs…

Pinche Pete

"Marando Gueros"

Juan Brujo

Brujeria

Brujeria

El Criminal

Coco Loco

Hongo Jr

El Criminal

Pinche Pete

Juan Brujo

Fantasma

Fantasma readies Pinche Pete for Execution

Goatwhore

Goatwhore

L. Benjamin Falgoust II

Sammy Duet

Robert Coleman

Zack Simmons

Goatwhore

Unidad Trauma

Dr Murillo

Dr Padilla

Dr Davis

Dr Morales

Bird Gallery – Favorites of 2021-2022

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Naked Aggression – 10.28.2022 Halloween Party w/ Get Greens, The Church Crowd, Triste, CFTC and SVA