Album Review

Ill Nino - EpidemiaIll Nino - Epidemia

One of my all time favourite bands has been and always will be Latino metal heroes Ill Nino, on the back of their last effort Dead New World they seemed to be – in the UK at least – be on the fall so to speak with their shows selling less and less tickets and their albums promotion being extremely minimal at best, it’s got to the point where I received this new album in my iPool without having seen 1 single advertisement even remotely mentioning a new album was in the making. With their prestigious back catalogue I feel that the first 3 albums were absolute musical perfection, Enigma though whilst having its moments was not one of the best albums I’ve ever heard, Dead New World brought the heavier style back to the game and has started them back off in the right direction.

To start with I was worried that this was going to go down the same path as Enigma; letting the metal side slip favouring the Latino style a bit too much taking away from the their distinctive edge, “The Depression” though blew that analogy right through the back of my head with the sinister tone in which it erupts, even the clean chorus lines musically are pulled into the depths of evil with the tone appearing both clean and aggressive. “Only The Unloved” and “La Epidemia” follow on in exactly the same manner as which we’ve been opened up, “La Epidemia ”being very reminiscent to the material found on Revolution Revolucion in regards to how heavy it is.

Some of the songs as expect don’t have that first listen instant love but they do grow on you, but in all fairness the tracks that do provoke that first listen obsession are that well crafted that they’ve earned it; “Eva”, “Escape” and “Forgive Me Farther” each unique in their own right but undeniably all on par with each other in terms of musical structure and sheer craft. The thing I’ve noticed with every single one of Ill Nino’s albums is that they each have a different base style but within that there is diverse range between each track from one extreme end of the spectrum to the other, with this for example we have “Forgive Me Farther” which is extremely light alongside “La Epidemia” which is drop dead heavy, then songs like “Time Won’t Save You” which flicker between the 2 at various intervals.

There we go then there is another album I have on my list of fantastic releases in 2012, this is right up there as a number 1 spot contender as well. It’s just my perfect blend of music, I love Spanish culture and I love metal so this combination since 2005 has had me on the hook, there really is nothing left to say apart from what a tremendous band.

5/5

Review by James Webb

 Band Members

Cristian Machado
Diego Verduzco
Ahrue Luster
Lazaro Pina
Dave Chavarri
Daniel Couto
 Track Listing
1. The Depression
2. Only The Unloved
3. La Epidemia
4. Eva
5. Demi-God
6. Death Wants More
7. Escape
8. Time Won’t Save You
9. Forgive Me Father
10. Invisible People
 Band Related Links
Ill Nino Facebook
 Review Score Code
- Top Cheese
- Brilliant
- Pretty damn good
- Ok I guess
- What Was That?