Text written by Matheus Jacques
If someone were to approach me at this point with Despair Distiller , the new EP from the band Sol de Sangre , claiming it to be the latest work from a classic and established death metal , after listening to the material I would probably just shut up and agree. The band's new material, despite being short and "only" an EP, has enough to establish a solid reputation, a solid "show of credentials."
Formed by veteran Colombian musicians scattered around this fateful little world of ours, residing in countries like Colombia itself, Australia, and Singapore, Sol de Sangre is one of those projects that sounds like a breath of fresh air and encouragement for the purists and defenders of the old school . From the meticulously crafted and measured guttural vocals to the drums that are sometimes rhythmic, sometimes accelerated as needed by each track, what we have here is quite a promise. A promise, since, according to statements, the EP is a prelude to the band's next studio album, which released the well-received debut Sol de Sangre in 2018, and the short duration of the EP combined with the quality presented in its content leaves that bittersweet feeling, pleasing for about 15 minutes and, at the same time, inviting us to the ungrateful wait for more content from the band.
Among the three actual tracks (since “Tumbas del Olvido” is an intro of just over 40 seconds), I would highlight “Noise and Bile” as my favorite, starting with a vociferous and profound musical rancor, in an excellent drum cadence. Varying in influences and similarities between old school Swedish, the “sepulturist” line and thrash, the band presents throughout the tracks enough dynamism and breaks to become captivating and attractive, “chewing” and expelling elements with freshness and conviction. If at any point there was an apparent excess or unwarranted pretension, it went unnoticed by me and I am grateful for that, because perhaps it would have affected my positive experience with the material.
So, in addition to the already mentioned efficient drumming, we have good and melodic guitar lines emerging here and there, such as in the final stretch of the title track "Dismal Blasphemies," a production worthy of praise for its fullness and balance between the "classic" and the modern, and the excellent vocals of Kike Valderrama . The result is a work that is, at the same time, unfortunately short and fortunately efficient and successful in making the most of its time to show what it's capable of. And I look forward to the next "madness" from this trio, may it come soon.
