Mystica Girls-Veronica, the Courtesan from Hell

Independent/Self-Release
2016

 
Mystica Girls is a heavy metal band from Mexico that has been around since 2005. In 2012 I covered the group's second EP, "Metal Rose", and now the only original member left from that line-up is guitarist/vocalist Cinthya Monroy. Back then the group had a lead singer who also played the violin. While that was certainly different, 2016-era Mystica Girls gets my vote for best overall sound and it's not exactly a close race! This 13-track recording, which is less than four months and still finger blistering hot to the touch(!), is the English version of  the group's third full-length album, "Verónica, la cortesana del infierno". In addition to Cinthya Monroy (a skilled guitarist who took hold of the microphone in 2016!), "Veronica, the Courtesan from Hell" features the talents of Bianka García (rhythm guitar), Andrea Qatrina (bass), and drummer Yolanda Moreno (Inharmonious). Despite numerous line-up changes over the years and the fact that this Mexican outfit started out in life as a cover band, Mystica Girls's latest release has the vibe of veteran act that has been churning out classics for decades! First off Cinthya Monroy shines in her new role as guitarist and lead vocalist. For a group that has had more than it's fair share of lead singers, Mystica Girls seems as if it has finally won the lottery with this line-up. Monroy's vocal delivery perfectly suites this band's atmospheric style of traditional heavy metal. On "Veronica, the Courtesan from Hell" she guides a one-in-a-million band that enthusiastically mixes goth metal, power metal, vintage heavy metal, dark metal, and occult metal into it's spell* for word wide conquest! With everything that's been happening on this crazy place that we call Earth, I'd gladly follow these metallic ladies and let "Veronica, the Courtesan from Hell" serve as our rallying call! God only knows why I lost track of this band after "Metal Rose". Thank the maker for second chances!

*Said spell starts off with a base of (original)  hard & heavy traditional metal. It's only after the pot has come to a roaring boil that Mystica Girls adds in the different ingredients. 

Tales Of Pain-Into The Labyrinth

Self-Release/Independent
2013

Tales Of Pain, a four-piece Mexican (tried and true) heavy metal/melodic power metal band, was first conceived of back in April of 2009. At first it was all about friends just having some fun and bounding over a (obvious) shared love of bands like Iron Maiden, Helloween and Metallica. Over time though the four musicians, who are lead "Into the Labyrinth" by the highly effective vocals of guitarist Siaska Di Borja, decided to buckle down, fine-tune their craft and, no doubt spurred on by the fact that they already had quite a bit of talent on their side (as well as natural charisma and youthful enthusiasm-two things that can't be learned as you've either got them or you don't!), see where things would lead to. And man alive let me tell you what folks. We should all be very grateful that Tales Of Pain, hailing specifically from Villahermosa, Tabasco, did decide to take things as far as they could go. Especially seeing as "Into the Labyrinth", a 9-track combination of (fine as wine) traditional heavy metal and melodic power metal, is quite the inspired release! While I'm not exactly sure if this is the group's first attempt to put things to tape or not (although I assume it is) I will say that if it is then "Into the Labyrinth" is a very splendid introduction indeed! With numbers like "Dark Decay" honing in on 80's metal, before heating things up some with a bit of heavy thrash,  and a cut like "Alive", with it's majestic approach to epic metal, moving Tales Of Pain from a fresh-faced, up-and-coming band to "top of the pops" territory this one band that should benefit from today's technical age. In the past a band like Tales Of Pain would have had a hard time even moving up past the tape-trading market and into the land of independent labels. Things have changed though (as far as getting your music out there to a world-wide audience and placing it into the right hands in order to get a record contract) and in the case of Tales Of Pain they can easily use that to their advantage. Still, when it comes to this heavy metal band, which also features guitarist Eddie Maciel, bassist Daniel Arias and drummer Beliel Canto within it's ranks, I'd love to cut through some of the burdensome "red tape" for them. I'd strongly urge any and all PR friends/contacts of mine to listen to "Into the Labyrinth" for yourselves and hear why I'm so excited about what these young guys have accomplished (sound-wise) in such a short length of time! Maybe this isn't quite music built for rocking out to, but (technically-speaking) Tales Of Pain have built a behemoth of an album  riff by bloody riff! For a young band that has barely cracked the ceiling of  the underground scene, which means of course that ( and may the gods of all things loud and proud bless them for this!) they are probably playing to crowds of no more then 200 or so, this kind of dedication and achievement is even more impressive! So yes, if I was in the PR field I'd grab this band right here and now while there is still fire in their belly. For everyone else though here's another example of  what is (more or less) metal magic in all it's glory. "Through The Looking Glass", which is cut number seven, is the sound of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest converging at that exact spot in history when Queensrÿche used to be good (God, does anyone else remember that or is it just my imagination getting the better of me?). Elsewhere the band puts all of it's chips on the style, sound and even swagger of Helloween and, if I had to put my money where my mouth is, I would wager that for the bulk of heavy metal fans that is where they would get the most pleasure out of this 4-piece band! With Tales Of Pain quite effectively merging these various different elements (from melodic metal to nearly progressive metal a lot of ground is covered on this release) into one new character I'd expect great things out of this young band as the sky is very much the limit! Find out more about Tales Of Pain, and how freaking straight-up boss their sound is, at their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tales-of-pain/139613849406379

Split Heaven-The Devils Bandit

Pure Legend Records

2013

Whoa, man alive I did not see this one coming at all! Can you say loud, proud, mean, hot, nasty and heavy Mexican steel? Sure, that's a mouthful. But Split Heaven, working their way through this, their third full-length album, mean business. And when the business at hand is eighties-style heavy metal, which means you should think along the lines of Judas Priest and Iron Maiden, as served up by a sinister-sounding speed metal band? Well, that just means that business is good....damn good. Truthfully I just downloaded, burned, and then threw this one into my car stereo without a second thought and when it first hit me I would have swore that this was a metal thrashing mad German speed metal band! Wow, was I ever FAR OFF. Regardless of where it is exactly that they hail from on this fragile globe of ours they still tear it the fuck up! Heavy metal/speed metal with lead vocals that sound as if they went to the Ronnie James Dio school for metalheads? You couldn't ask for better friends. And then there are the kind of well-loved (and sorely missed) whipping lead guitar solos that can only come from a band well versed in the sound of (all things beautiful indeed) eighties metal. That's what cooking! So, what's the scoop on Split Heaven anyway? Read on. Formed back in 2003 by guitarist Pedro Zelbohr and drummer Tomas Roitman, with a demo called "Lightstorm" appearing in late May of that same year, this album looks as if it marks the first introduction of  the group's new lead vocalist (and third overall Split Heaven vocalist at that!) Gian Carlo Farjat. Or at least to tape. Maybe he's already played live with them? I don't know. But I do know one thing. Speaking of tapes, and bear with me here folks, this new album from Split Heaven reminds me of the glorious heyday of heavy metal tape trading! Here we have a band that sounds for all the world like a kick ass underground act and, if one didn't know better, you could almost pass this one off as a missed, but not forgotten, eighties/early nineties act. The thing that gives it away though is the modern production. Of course that just highlights the immense metal power of this five-piece act. With guitarist Armand "Hank" Ramos and bass player Carlo "Taii" Hernández serving as the other two building blocks for this brick house, Split Heaven are an institution that all heavy/speed metal fans should invest in! In addition to their own back-catalog, which I need to now check out, the group made an appearance on a tribute album for Metalucifer and they have shared the stage with bands from all over the globe. You've got Hammerfall (Sweden), Rata Blanca (Argentina), At War (U.S.A.) and Paul Di' Anno (Britain). They've also played with everyone from L.A Guns to Agent Steel and even bands like Stratovarius and Brainstorm in their time together. As they have quickly made a name for themselves as one of Mexico's premier metal bands they have also managed to line up endorsement deals with Washburn Guitars, Randall Amplifiers, Eden Amplification and Evans Drumheads (just to name a few)! So there sure seems to be other people besides just me who are enamored with this Mexican metal band! You can check Split Heaven out for yourself and see what all the fuse is about when this one drops in late November. I've got a good feeling that this one is going to rattle the bones of heavy/speed metal fanatics!