De La Muerte
s/t

Ten damned songs on a groundbreaking debut album, is what the label states. Italian De La Muerte is a band consisting of some of the most experienced musicians in the Italian heavy rock/metal genres, again according to the label as I don’t really recognise the names. The brilliant Simone Mularoni produced the album and they are inspired by the Mexican "Nuestra Señora de la Santa Muerte" cult, which is probably why their songs are damned. This is the first album by this band and it is protected by the Santa Muerte patron saint who looks after people like this band and others that aren’t seen as the best of Christians.

Their music is somewhere in the borderland of heavy rock and heavy metal, quite heavy and straightforward with bit of aggression and energy. Excellent production in the hands of Mularoni, and the singer is also very good. I think that in the production department they put on a great showing with this album that is also short and to the point with 42 minutes of playing time on ten tracks – ten tracks that doesn’t seem very damned to me, but they should not bore the listener to death by being repetitive and that is very good.

But there are some problems with this album in my book, stylewise they do not offer anything groundbreaking and the songs aren’t groundbreakingly good either. It sounds like most Italian heavy rock, maybe a bit better produced than most but the songs aren’t really breaking out in the quality department. I think they could have been braver, darker, maybe done the vocals in Spanish – that would have been something exciting to have the “Muerte” label on but this album is too ordinary to really shine.

Sure it is well made, the songs are a good listen and the production is excellent but the album doesn’t stand out and will just be mentioned to make up the numbers as I cannot imagine that anyone really thinks it makes a lasting impression. I think the album is pretty good however, and it sure has been pleasant to listen to it but in the end it is just one of those albums that makes up the numbers: one heavy rock/heavy metal album from 2015 and for Hallowed it is one more review in 2015. Fans of said genres should give it a chance, you may find it agreeable but to me it is a middle-of-the-road album, good but not great.

HHHHHHH