Asesino can sort of be seen as Dino Cazares’ follow-up to Brujeria, which he left years ago. This time he has teamed up with Static-X bassist Tony Campos and drummer Emilio Mirquez to form Asesino, and they now release their second effort Cristo Satanico upon us.

 

Asesino is a death/grind/metal act that sounds a whole lot like Brujeria. This is mostly caused by the fact that the lyrics are in Spanish, something for which I seem to have a weakness. I think Spanish is a perfect language for death metal, it sounds sort of threatening when it’s screamed. And I've always liked the (backing) vocals of Tony Campos with Static-X, so it's nice to hear him do this task by himself. Now this band is nowhere near the level (and mediahype) of Divine Heresy, but I sure like this band a whole lot more. But that’s entirely personal I guess.

 

The production of the drums and vocals are superb on this record, but the guitars could have been slightly more intense and the bass could have been more present in my opinion. Nevertheless all the songs have a nice groove to it, and there are some songs that would definitely make me bang my head at a concert, like ‘Twiquiado’ and ‘Adelitas’. The last track (listed on the record) is called ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’, and is a ridiculous pop-metal track which I really hope they’ll play live for the fun effect. After this, an unlisted short grind track follows, and another recording of Brujeria’s ‘Matando Güeros’. Why these tracks aren’t listed is a complete mystery to me.

 

Overall this is a fun disc to listen to, especially for fans of Fear Factory, Brujeria, Static-X and probably Divine Heresy too. It’s fast, brutal and it grooves. I for one am searching for their previous album within days now. Los banditos have returned!