CoC : Hocico - Odio Bajo del Alma : Review

Hocico - _Odio Bajo del Alma_
(Opcion Sonica, 1997)
by: Adrian Bromley (8 out of 10)

Hocico (Spanish for "muzzle") may just be :the band: to draw attention to the ever-growing Mexican metal music scene. Other Mexican acts like 34-D and Hologram are reviewed in this CoC issue, too. Mexico City electronic/industrial metal duo Hocico (comprised of Erk Aicrag and Rasco Agroyan) play a very vibrant and truly powerful form of music. Its music relays numerous emotions and the atmospheric offerings within _OBdA_ - Spanish for _Soul Full of Hate_ - not only amazes me, but leaves me feeling dirty and unsure of what I have heard or become a part of. Also, the riffs are deadly and the vocals and keyboards are truly sinister. I'm pretty sure the music here would go well as a soundtrack for a real scary horror flick. The album's eleven tracks provides us with tales of darkness and the exploration of the human mind and rarely does the band's material go stale. The success of Hocico lies within the band's structure of songs, programming of drums/keyboards/samples, as well as the band's dark songwriting. While the band may be circulating within the realms of Canadian greats Skinny Puppy at times with the music on this release, the band truly deserves a listen as they have found their own identity and successfully fused together the might of industrial/metal music and the warped sounds of electronica. Super-cool!

Contact: Opcion Sonica - Concepcion Beistegui 622-3 Col. del Valle

(article published 14/7/1997)

CHATS
12/8/1997	A Bromley	Hocico: Deep Emotions and Darkened Images