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¡Metal! 9 New Latin Metal Bands To Hear Now

Krisiun's Moyses Kolesne in mid-shred.
jasonalayne via Flickr
Krisiun's Moyses Kolesne in mid-shred.

English / Spanish

With music, as with so many other things in this life, when you go to great lengths to avoid something for fear of not understanding it, your apprehension can snowball. I have to confess this happened to me with heavy metal. It is not my forte, even though Latin metal has always surrounded me through headbanging boyfriends and obsessed cousins (if you ever hop in a Buenos Aires taxi driven by a long-haired dude blasting Judas Priest, say hi to my cousin Martin). Everyone told me I'd like it, but I stayed away, more for fear of not getting it than anything else. And as I've rejected it, I've become increasingly convinced I'm not going to like it.

Now that I've gotten that secret out of the way, I'll make a second confession. This week, while taping our Latin heavy metal special, I discovered I like it. I invited two experts: Lars Gotrich, NPR Music's stellar producer and metal blogger (check out his Viking's Choice series on the All Songs Considered blog) and Miguel Palafox, from the Mexico City-based blog Search & Destroy.

Just to clarify, this wasn't a "classics of Latin metal show," although we will be doing that soon. Lars and Miguel brought a list of their favorite newer metal bands from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and the U.S. As I listened to the songs, I was surprised to find I really enjoyed what I heard — whether it was Brazilian band Krisiun's ominous growls, the merengue-style tempo of Archaios from the Dominican or especially Mexican band Goatzilla's Black Sabbath-inspired guitar wails and drum fills. These are songs I can definitely get behind.

If you're a metal fan, you should tune into this week's show to hear some very interesting new music. If you're like me, a bit apprehensive about metal, I hope you give it a chance.

And now, if you'll excuse me, there's a taxi driver in Buenos Aires I need to send an email to — so I can let him know he was right all along.

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English / Spanish

¡Metal! 9 Bandas Nuevas Del Heavy Metal Latino Que Debes Escuchar

Con la música, como con tantas otras cosas en esta vida, cuando te alejas de un estilo por miedo a no comprenderlo, tu desconfianza crece con el tiempo. Tengo que confesar que eso me ha pasado a mi con el heavy metal. No es mi fuerte, a pesar de que siempre me ha rodeado a través de novios metaleros y primos obsesionados con el metal (si alguna vez vas a Buenos Aires y te subís a un taxi manejado por un tipo de pelo largo escuchando Judas Priest, salúdamelo a mi primo Martín.)Todos ellos siempre me dijeron que lo pruebe, que me iba a gustar el metal, pero nunca me acerqué al género, más que nada por miedo a no entender de que se trataba. Y cuanto más lo rechacé, más me convencí de que el día que me sentase a escucharlo, no me iba a gustar.

Ahora que les conté ese secreto, tengo una segunda confesión: Esta semana, mientras grababamos nuestro programa especial sobre el heavy metal latino, descubrí que en realidad me gusta, y mucho. Invitamos a dos expertos: Lars Gotrich, productor para NPR music y blogger acerca del heavy metal (si pueden, échenle un vistazo a su serie "Viking's Choice", la cual aparece en el blog de All Songs Considered), y Miguel Palafox, que desde Ciudad México dirige el blog Search And Destroy, también dedicado a la música de heavy metal.

Para clarificar, el show de esta semana no se trata de los clásicos del heavy metal latino, aunque eso es algo que haremos pronto. En cambio Lars y Miguel compartieron con nosotros sus bandas nuevas favoritas del género, agrupaciones de Brasil, República Dominicana, México y Estados Unidos.

Me sorprendió descubrir que realmente me gusta este estilo musical- ya sean los gruñidos amenazantes de la banda brasilera Krisiun, o el ritmo acelerado (basado en el merengue) de la agrupación dominicana Archaios, y especialmente la banda mexicana Goatzilla, cuyo estilo en guitarra es un homenaje a la banda Black Sabbath.

Si eres fan de la música Heavy Metal, te recomiendo que esuches el show de esta semana para descubrir algo nuevo y emocionante. Y si eres como yo, es decir, no sabes mucho sobre el Heavy Metal pero tienes el corazón y la cabeza abiertos a la exploración, espero que le des una chance.

Y ahora, si me excusan, tengo que ir a escribirle un email a un taxista en Buenos Aires—para hacerle saber que tenia razón.

Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Jasmine Garsd is an Argentine-American journalist living in New York. She is currently NPR's Criminal Justice correspondent and the host of The Last Cup. She started her career as the co-host of Alt.Latino, an NPR show about Latin music. Throughout her reporting career she's focused extensively on women's issues and immigrant communities in America. She's currently writing a book of stories about women she's met throughout her travels.
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