v/a "America es Bella... Para Vivir Resistiendo!" compilation CD
[Endless Brutality of Men]
Here's a massive collection of 25 Latin American bands cranking out one song each, much of which is straightforward crusty hardcore/punk with extremely raw recordings (some of which are almost certainly recorded live). I've only heard of a handful of these bands, with the now defunct Los Crudos of course being the most notable (I imagine this is an old compilation?), but that doesn't really matter. Regeneracion and Abuso Sonoro start things off with no nonsense crust complete with driving rhythms and forceful vocal arrangements, while Disturbio Menor then uses faster vocal patterns and a little subtle melody in "Nos Esta Quedando Chica Suramerica" that would really be nice if the recording wasn't so raw and muddy (I'd love to hear more from this band). Autocontrol is much darker and more metallic in their blend of hardcore styles, coming off very much like something that would've fit in with the whole New Age Records thing in the 90's. Again, the sound is too rugged, but the song is fuckin' great... I want to hear more from this band for sure. Enemigo de Clase is melodic and midpaced, much more punk rock inspired; while Fertil Miseria brings back the crusty edge with some searing female vocals and typical D-beat playing with a little grind thrown in. Los Crudos offers up "Tiempos de Miseria y Lucha", a rough track that fits in well with the other songs herein - albeit a bit more energetically (it's worth noting, though, that they are not the best band herein). Their energy level is closely matched nearer the end of the CD by Apatia No's similar approach, however. Crisis Politica's piece is damn near five minutes, more than double the average running time of almost every other song, and far different in its use of sparse guitar chords over jazzy basslines before finally kicking into some strangely rocked out hardcore/punk. Accion Directa has kind of an early 80's hardcore/punk vibe happening, but at four minutes the song wanders on a little too long for me. Enfermos Terminales brings in more of that early 80's hardcore/punk style, while the Fun People surge into some no frills hardcore after a lengthy spoken intro, 200 Muertos drops plenty of hard hitting rhythms with vocals that aren't as aggressive as you'd expect, and Desobediencia Civil's dual vocal attack sounds a little strange on this particular offering - but the music is solidly grinding crust. Los Rezios is unlistenable due to what is hands down the worst production I've ever heard. It's almost nothing but static and a little low-end. It sounds like a 10th generation dub of a demo that was recorded on a boombox. A damn shame, as the song sounds like it could be promising underneath all that mess (Es Mierda offers the other intolerably horrible sound on the disc, while the half decent Discordia suffers only from an awful guitar sound). Revuelta Propia is one of the most unique acts herein, fusing hardcore with rock and some salsa sounding stuff, complete with slap bass, keyboards (I think?), and lush clean guitars with some actual singing. I'm not really into it, but it's a nice change of pace and there are some interesting passages. Oso Mocos is similar in a way, but their sound is even rawer and the songwriting has less direction in my opinion, so it's not working for me. 720° kicks out lightly metallic hardcore with some unexpected leads, and Silencio Absoluto is also lightly metallic with a few crunchy breaks amidst plenty of moderately paced hardcore with speedy vocal patterns. Rendencion is kind of crappy and grooved out, but Coprofilia follows with a cool track that's midpaced and has a strong feel; and Huasipungo has the clearest sound quality of all the bands, making their rather generic hardcore/punk still stand out. And it's Underthreat who closes with one of the gruffest of the midpaced heavy hardcore tunes in "Disclaim the System". The CD comes in an oversized sleeve that honestly doesn't look very good. The photography on the cover is fine, but the typesetting and arrangements inside are rather shoddy. Also included is an enormous black and white booklet/zine with tons of political writings as well as artwork and lyrics for all of the participating bands. It can get a little dark and messy in areas, so some of it's illegible, but 99% of the content is in Spanish, so I can't read it anyway (which is fine - this collection isn't really directed at an American audience anyway). Many of the topics of course seem to deal with the unwanted involvement of the US in Latin American areas, so despite the language barrier that overall communication is definitely a familiar one for any fan of hardcore/punk. This isn't so bad. There are only a couple of weak bands represented, so really my chief complaint is that almost every band's recording is substandard (though I can understand why it came out that way, of course). I'm overlooking that though, because if nothing else there are a handful of bands that I want to look out for based on this compilation, so that's something to appreciate right there. (6/10)
Running time - 59:11, Tracks: 25
[Notable tracks: Disturbio Menor, Autocontrol, Los Crudos, Silencio Absoluto, Apatia No]
Endless Brutality of Men Records - http://www.ebmrecords.com

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