Brujería
Brujerizmo

THE REVIEW

The Brujeria are a band with a rather original background: they emerged as a musical project of a group of Mexican drug traffickers, wanted and therefore incognito, performing in public strictly with their faces covered (although it is said that behind it all is actually a collaboration among the crème of the world's extreme scene of those years, from members of Fear Factory and Faith No More to Napalm Death and Dimmu Borgir). The various members are known only by pseudonyms and the line-up has changed several times over the years: among others, Juan Brujo (vocals), Asesino (guitar, bass), Güero Sin Fe (bass, vocals), Greñudo (drums), Hongo (bass, guitar), Hongo Jr. (drums), Pititis (vocals), Cristo de Pisto (guitar), Marijuano Machete (vocals). 

Third by Brujeria, released by Roadrunner in 2000, "Brujerizmo" is a record not entirely atypical from a purely technical-musical standpoint, remaining quite steadily within the grindcore genre, yet sounding distinctly unique: an immediate impression is a strong influence of Fear Factory and Napalm Death post-Harmony Corruption, almost as if the two bands had arranged to meet in the studio for the occasion (...).
To the dark and heavily distorted guitars, the fast and chaotic rhythms, and the screamed vocals typical of grindcore, are indeed added slight industrial influences and a notable groove, with an alternation of accelerations, cadenced rhythms, and breakdowns, thanks to the good work of a powerful and precise rhythm section like a goldsmith and a massive and catchy "riffing" often working in unison creating a "wall" with a devastating effect.

Completely unique, however, is the "lyrical" side: the themes are varied and they characterize the entire discography of the band, namely Satanism, witchcraft, Zapatismo, drug trafficking, killing white people, and killing white people with a machete; the songs are often introduced by sinister samples and the lyrics are exclusively written in Spanish.

It essentially is a noisy, heavy, extremely violent and thoroughly enjoyable record, boasting also an excellent and clean production, another quite unusual fact in the genre.
Among the various individual songs, some of the most representative ones: the very cadenced opener "Brujerizmo", a true anthem to witchcraft as the answer to the spiritual needs of today, the martial "Marcha De Odio", with its belligerent theme and motif, and the compelling "Division Del Norte" and "Anti-Castro", the first an enthusiastic call to take up the Revoluciòn where the pioneers left it off, the latter an up-beat protest against today's Cuban government, always claiming Mexican supremacy. 

Strongly recommended for those who love extreme and disturbing sounds and themes so wicked as to be almost absurd; a valid alternative to the murder of white individuals with a machete, and perhaps even more entertaining.