Though the band is in its best form at combining their aggressive, punk, and grindcore elements, the guitars are loud and driven by the insane blast beats of drummer Hongo Jr. (Nicholas Barker). The songs on “Esto Es Brujeria” inject massive riffs into the violent vocals, the drums are rock solid and they sound brutal. The music fits the barbarous aesthetic of Mexican death metal and ultimately boasts fast dynamics, the drums immediately take a grinding approach with the opening tracks “Esto Es” and “El Patron del Reventon”.

Brujeria has been around for thirty years, their first two albums “Matando güeros” and “Raza Odiada” were considered classics by the fans at the time when they were released. The band’s high-octane subversive jamming pours gasoline on fire, for instance, the acerbic riffing on “Estado Profundo” and “Bruja Encabronada” are some of the heaviest songs in the album. The tight drumming burst into a full blast of grinding section, all masked up with machete-like riffs cutting through the intensity. The latter track features female vocalist La Encabronada who comprises a never-ending intensity of violence against the ferocious drumming and guitar barrages.

Despite the short being short and concise, the album clocks in at fifty-one minutes of cocaine snuffing, making the album lean towards various metal styles. The drums play a strong role in providing fast dynamics, blast beats, and some slow but prominent mid-paced sections, the signature identity of the band is demonstrated throughout the songs.

Other songs like “G A-K” and “Tu Vida Luca” are groovier and infuse some hardcore riffs, the rough angry vocalist of Juan Brujo injecting uncompromising intensity. When viewing the lyrical themes of the band, Brujeria‘s common subjects are very distinctive in dealing with sex, drug smuggling, Satanism, and politics. The album itself blends everything from anarchism and can fit into Mexican drug cartel series like Netflix’s hit series Narcos. While tracks like “Mexocrista” and “Bestia De La Muerte” present Brujeria’s hardcore and death grind influences, the opening riff emphasizes dark noir themes. There are some moments where the riffing reminds me of Sepultura’s album “Chaos A.D.”.

However, Brujeria tackles the old-school hardcore grooves and while the chugging riffs add a raw tone to the track “Politicamente Correctos” there’s something about these grinding drum beats. The breakdowns are killer, and they are accompanied by massive guitar riffing that uplifts the tempo in total chaos, but the groovy rhythm is one of the band’s infectious elements. The hardcore fiasco is rather showcased by the energetic riffing on “Mochado” and goes in a nonstop pummeling affair with vehement vocals. The downtempo of the guitars and the low bass tone of the track “Perdido En El Espacio” are very fresh and twisted to my ears.

You can expect all the sickening bizarre attitude from the band in the second half of the album, mainly with songs like “Odio Que Amo” and the sixth-minute track “Testamento 3. 0”. Albeit, the slow pace of the drums at the beginning of the track, there are some modern elements in the tone of the heavy guitars. The violent overtones of the vocals uttering some tribal demonic incantation, and the guitars have a very experimental feel to them.

“Esto Es Brujeria” is a diverse album and probably the band’s strongest effort to get such kind of hype, the band maintains a dark lo-fi death metal atmosphere with tracks like “Covid-666”. But somehow the production of the final three tracks is a bit different from the rest of the songs. “Lord Nazi Ruso” and the final track “Cocaina” emphasize grooves and the riffs reek of intrepid old-school death metal/hardcore.

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