Impureza – Alcázares
Review by: Chad Pab
Review Score: 8.5
Impureza’s new release Alcázares mixes elements of death metal with Spanish traditional guitar playing in their own intriguing style, known as Hispanic metal. The album is sung in the language of
Cervantes, but not understanding the lyrics didn’t take anything away from my listening experience.
After the album’s instrumental acoustic intro track “Verdiales,” things pick up with “Bajo Las Tizonas De Toledo”, which is a banger of a track to introduce the full band. Laurent Delouret’s death metal
vocal style was a highlight for me, being in the vein of Behemoth or Morbid Angel. But not only is he the vocalist, he’s also the bassist, and his fretless keeps things held together nicely both melodically
and functionally.
Track 4 “Pestilencia” was another highlight for me. It started off with a distinctly Latin sound with acoustic guitar, fretless bass, and various percussive instruments, before blasting off into the electric
part of the song with blast beats and extreme vocals. I really enjoyed how it tastefully transitioned from a Latin inspired intro into a full blown death metal track, while still weaving in those Latin elements
throughout, whether through clean vocals, acoustic guitar passages, or the occasional burst of horns.
“Murallas” was the next song that stood out to me. It has a cool reverb/envelope filter on the acoustic guitar and made for a unique effect within the Latin sound that broke up the heavy sections of the
album.
The remainder of the album continues in a similar fashion that goes between traditional Spanish sounding music and death metal in Impureza’s own style. By the time we get to the final track “Santa
Inquisición” you can tell the album is winding down as we reach the final repeating vocal line. I always appreciate when you can feel that an album is ending and you can sense its closure, and they pulled it
off here.
Another thing worth mentioning about Impureza’s Alcázares is the album artwork. The first thing you’ll notice about it is the color, vibrant blue isn’t that common of a color in the metal world where black
dominates. But the color perfectly suits their music, listening to the album doesn’t bring up feelings of doom and gloom, but a mix that feels good to listen to on a sunny day. That doesn’t mean it’s happy
music, but it feels like it could be more approachable for people who don’t normally listen to death metal. The artwork also depicts statues, a ghost, and a Spanish building that looks like it’s about to
get sucked into the void of Impureza.
Ultimately this is a solid, and approachable death metal album, I do recommend giving it a listen because there are a lot of different aspects you can enjoy in it, whether the spinning guitar playing,
vocals, percussion, or the fretless bass, its an album to keep on the radar as one of the best of the year.
Line-up:
Esteban Martín – All Vocals
Lionel Cano Muñoz – Rhythm, Lead & Spanish Guitars
Florian Saillard – Fretless Bass
Guilhem Auge – Drums
Follow Impureza:
Website: http://www.impureza.eu/
Bandcamp: https://impureza.bandcamp.com/
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Impurezaconquista
Instagram: https://instagram.com/impurezaofficial
Twitter (X): https://twitter.com/ImpurezaBand
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCLkOMYXI-_teRnaDCs1ho8A
Deezer: https://www.deezer.com/artist/1195314
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3YA9Uqs38ZD6Lg2q66PVw9
Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/artist/impureza/422671948