M-16 – La Raiz De Todo Poder (2010)

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While there is very good Metal music from bands south of the US border (Cenotaph, Mutum, Disgorge, Aglarond, Hacavitz, etc), it’s not too common to hear good Latin Metal in the USA, besides Brujeria. While most people in the USA’s Latin community are listening to Reggaeton, Shakira and similar bullshit, it’s great to hear bands like M-16 that are keeping their Latin identity and kicking ass.

As a Hardcore/Metal band from New York, M-16 has great power in their musical aggression and they sing completely in Spanish so they say (even though some of their song names are in English, and some lyrics are definitely in English). The band’s aggressive Hardcore style has many Metal elements that makes it brutal at points, but without loosing track of the melodic aspect of Metal and Hardcore.

The band’s sound is very guitar oriented and they feature very catchy and powerful riffs, however sometimes the production/mix on this album is bad. Some songs sound very powerful at first, then they kind of sound hollow (i.e. “Maleficio”). This could easily be a problem with the digital promo we received, but we don’t think so since it’s not 100% constant through the album.

The vocal layering on songs like “Abismo” is done very nicely to create a very thick sound. The band varies from ‘harsh’ screams to clean vocals that sometime might throw you off and sometimes, like on “Amanecer del Ultimo Dia”, sound a bit distorted and not 100% clear as one would expect.

M-16’s drumming and percussions are pretty solid and while most of the time they also seem to be affected by the production/mix, other times like on “Storming the Gates”, they add great atmosphere to the music. When paired with the distorted guitars in this song they create a nice ‘tribal’-style passage in what for us is the best song in this album.

The overall sound of the band is powerful and crushing, their vocal attacks combined with furious guitar riffs and fast paced drumming create a very whirlwind-like feeling through this release. The bad thing is that the production/mix is very inconsistent, sometimes it feels that songs, and even parts of songs, were recorded at different times in different places and just slapped together. There is also a huge problem with the vocals getting distorted (in a bad way). Maybe this is how the band wanted it, but for us it’s takes away from the quality of this release. The musicianship and musical abilities are there, and hopefully with a better production, their next album will be considerably better.

Band: M-16 Album: La Raiz De Todo Poder
Label: Mother West

Release: June 21st, 2010

Official Site myspace
Genre: Hardcore/Metal

Country: USA

Rating: 75/100
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