LUzbel

Questions like "What is best 80's Metal band from country X?" will often result in long, adventurous discussions on forums as well as beer-drenched home parties and festival meet-ups and they're awesum fun, bonding experiences for us die-hard international Olde HM fans and collectors ...except when it comes to a few select countries, like Mexico for example. In this particular case everyone generally agrees on ye ol' Mighty LUZBEL and move on to more exciting topics.

Because Corroseum I'm still gonna infuse a hot-take here and boldly claim that 2nd self-titled LUZBEL LP is Best LUZBEL. Yes I do indeed love their seminal "Pasaporte Al Infierno" as much as the next guy, but playing them back to back for the umphteenth' time I feel my initial feelings from decades ago remain: Luzbel s/t is one of Latin America's most underrated HM albums! Literary every single song on this album is awesome and unlike the claustrophobic mix of PAI (my one irk with that one), s/t actually sounds decent, as in at least above the Central/South American baseline of the time.

Like all great openers, "Holocausto" is a speedy one and tastefully contrasts with a solid, heavy mid-pace chorus, but it's the following "Pecador" that's the first true ripper here. Superb vocal harmonies all over driving, classic Heavy/Power Steel of the finest international brand, but sadly ending after a mere 2 minutes and 32 seconds. Curse & blame upon this foul coitus interruptus! Squinting at the labels and the track info displayed, we realize that Luzbel wheren't big on elaborations musicwise, and while I'm often a fan of bands keeping it straight'n'simple, in the case of songwriting this accomplished I would have loved to get a bit more bang for my buck. Barely 3+ minutes/tune would have been perfect for let's say a rough Speed/Thrash act, but in this genre of prime 80' PowerSteel, we crave More.

"Prisoneros Del Tiempo" and "Persecucion" continues with high King Diamond-meets-early-Queensryche 80's Power Metal class, and then comes pearl #2 in the form of "Tiempo Fugaz", a friggin' killer Speed Metal track with rippin' interjections of oozing aah's and unexpected classical harmonies. "Juegos De Pasion" that opens side B is slightly more similar to the 1st-half-of-the-80's-type sound present on "Pasaporte Al Infierno" and yet another crazy charming hit of pounding yet sneaky Steel. "Enemigo Interio" continues with their now trademark flawless brand of Power'ish Metal intermingled with heavy, pounding verses and oozing aaah's and hereabouts the name Pokolgép suddenly pops up in my East'ified brain. Dunno of it's as much the music as the production and vibe that made the connection, but a random synapse short circuit worth mention I guess...

Then, for what I would imagine to be dramatic effect comes the short "R.I.P."-interlude, paying some sweet homage to the classic folk tune "Scarborough Fair" (hardy the first one in 80's Metal history) followed by Best Song On Album: "Paradoxa"! An absolutely stellar piece of perfectly composed PowerSteel, with the fastness and the riffing and the exotic harmony breaks in the Finest of the fine tradition of bands like Alvacast, Resistencia, Orquidea Negra and Zona Abissal. Just push 'Repeat' and sail away upon the ocean of Heavy Metal bliss 'til ye fall of the edge or get eaten by dragons...

Chapter 3 in Luzbel's discography closes with the one and only 4+ minutes track "Resurrection" and it's a solid instrumental with plenty of neo-classical flavour and once again w/ a wee bit of King Diamond in it. So, wrapping up I'm gonna be 100% clear: "Luzbel" really is my favourite Mexican 80's Metal album. For reference, close runner-up's would indeed be PAI as well as the crazy underappreciated and obscure Escuadrón Metálico - Proyecto Dos compilation.

Final footnote: Despite its bad reputation, their following 1989 "¡¿Otra Vez?!" album did include a bunch of great Metal moments, but was also infested with plenty of late 80's keyboard-embarrassments and overall was only 50% the album of its predecessors. If I'll ever muster up the strength to re-buy it, another review might follow....