Fans and connoisseurs of the Mexican black death band Hacavitz know that it’s no coincidence that I shouted for joy when I saw the latest album Muerte featured in our Zware Lijst for review. As quickly as possible, I requested the promo to avoid missing out. My first encounter with this band wasn’t even through their conventional albums. Perhaps surprising because in the over twenty-year existence of this grim horde, Muerte marks the sixth album in their discography, along with a bunch of splits and a few EPs. However, my first encounter was a live performance.
On November 18, 2017, the third edition of Veghel DeathFest took place. The venue for this musical discourse was Podium De Noordkade, an industrial-looking, somewhat dark hall. I vividly remember that the gentlemen made a crushing impression almost immediately, with the vocalist continuously staring into the dark void, or rather the ceiling many meters above, in an incomprehensible manner. Later in 2018, I saw the gentlemen in De Patrpnaat, the adjacent hall of the 013 with stained glass windows. A place where Hacavitz clearly came into its own even better and delivered an equally strong performance. The last album dates back to 2017 and oddly enough slipped our minds; Nex Nihil missed out on a review on Zware Metalen.
Yet, in the past, there has been some writing about these blasphemous musicians. Let me share a piece of history: Venganza (debut, 2005), Meztli Obscura (third album, 2010), Darkness Beyond (fourth album, 2015), and two interviews 2006 and 2011. Now it’s the turn of Muerte, and I’ve taken the noble task of writing about it seriously. Almost as seriously as the dedication the gentlemen have for all things demonic and gloomy.
The same goes a bit for the vocal impact of Antimo Buonnano, who steps more into the foreground during the forty-three minutes of the album. Moonstench is initially a hefty thrash basher, but one with a blackened edge. The album literally breaks open more and, therefore, looser, as if the gates of hell have been given some extra lubricant during the opening. During Voivodvz, the band clearly goes for the real Hacavitz sound. After some brief, quite impressive church chants, a thunderous bomb explodes, and it feels like a runaway cavalry charging through the speakers. It’s a murky mass of devastating sound that seems to come to a halt just after the third minute to integrate some melody, after which the ear-shattering vocals bring out the darkest feelings within you once again. We go from Watain-esque scenes, a bit more towards the obscurity of Morbid Angel, and back again. A swinging blast passage can’t be missed. Hacavitz then zealously hacks its way to the end of this track. Damn, what an intense sacral outburst of violence…
Tsontekotl Ika Tletl then makes room for three minutes for the guest contribution of Miguel Pérez, who eerily enhances the album. Perhaps relevant for a certain conceptual aspect, but I suspect that most of us will systematically skip this transcendent piece. Fortunately, Hacavitz then finishes off with the almost eleven-minute Conticinium. It’s evident to me that this band has mastered the art of long songs with an extremely erratic atmosphere. Something that we hear most prominently during the last track. Initially, there are no shenanigans on speed, but rather sluggish, melodic Satan worship, until the moment when the thick bass, rumbling soundscape, and the deep throaty roar in the distance make you think that the end of times has come. The drums and guitar riffs bring the tension to great heights, after which the three tiny bones in the middle ear are almost dislocated by an unrelenting barrage of various blasts.
This torment, with elements of both death metal and old-school black, is guaranteed to arouse the desires of even the most virginal listeners. For old hands, this is bread and butter, yet no less tasteful. And while the previously merciless Oath of Midnight Ashes by the equally Mexican Luciferian Rites succeeded in surprising me earlier this year, the old compatriots don’t fall an inch short. In fact, Hacavitz remains number one with your faithful editor with Muerte when it comes to spicy, blackened death-black hymns.
Score:
90/100
Label:
Moribund Records, 2024
Tracklisting:
- Muerte Primera
- Hiaretikos Nicte
- Moonstench
- Voivodvz
- Tsontekotl Ika Tletl
- Conticinium
Line-up:
- Antimo Buonnano – Vocals, guitars, bass
- César “Led” Sánchez – Drums
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