Argentinian metal band Prevalece is back with their follow up album to the excellent debut Guerra Espiritual, which was released in 2015. Yes, the album is in their native tongue of Spanish, but don’t let that stop you from checking it out. Best of all Sin Limites and Guerra Espiritual appear to be free downloads on their Facebook page.
Unfortunately, I can’t seem to locate much information on Prevalece other than bits I’ve translated off their Facebook profile, which is also in all Spanish. From what I can tell, Guerra Espiritual was their first release and Sin Limites is their second, both of which were released independently in 2015.
Looking back on Guerra Espiritual, my first impression was that this could be Black album era Metallica done in Spanish. Granted the guitar solos were different than you would hear from Kirk Hammet but the vocals were as if James Hetfield suddenly became fluent in Spanish. Musically, a strong Metallica influence came through but not in a bad way and production/mixing on the album was very well done as well. Unfortunately, Sin Limites has a thinner sound overall compared to Guerra Espiritual and the vocals overpower the music a bit, which is somewhat disappointing. The strong Metallica influence is much more subdued as well, almost as if there is a different band in some respects.
As many good metal albums do, Sin Limites opens with air raid sirens and the first song “Mercaderes de la Fe” starts without warning with fast vocals and a driving beat. Guitar solos abound on this album and fit very well within the songs and I especially like how the one in this song literally begins from a stop/start portion of the song.
In “Violencia Inducida” the band speeds things up a bit more for certain parts of the song before introducing a break down section that leads in to a guitar solo before returning again to the breakdown that even features a short bass riff at one point. The band has done a good bit of work to vary the songs so that the listener doesn’t get bored and most will not be able to accurately predict what is coming next.
Following the short instrumental “Intervalo” the band launches into the title track “Sin Limites” which in some ways reminds musically a bit of Anthrax crossed with some Master of Puppets era Metallica. In this sense, this album does remind me of their first one Guerra Espiritual in that there are portions of the songs that instantly bring to mind classic bands like Metallica, Anthrax, and Megadeth, but this doesn’t last as the band has the ability to craft their own songs without ripping off the respected bands in the scene.
“Tormento” is one my favorite tracks on the album. The song starts out slow and ominous, reminiscent of an old Megadeth song, but then abruptly shifts to to a staccato guitar and drum combination that hits like a jackhammer. Eventually the song picks up even more speed before slowing down again for a section that could be from a Seattle grunge band, only to return to the previously described sounds and then cycle through everything a few times. The double bass thumping along through the slower sections really makes those work for me.
Overall, to my ears there just seems to be something lacking on this album compared to Guerra Espiritual. The songs are well crafted but don’t have the same ability to reach out and grab the listener like I heard on their first album. That being said, musicianship and performances are good and this is a very solid release, definitely worth checking out and as mentioned before both the band’s releases appear to be available for free download on their facebook page, so go get them.
Rating: 7/10
Written by John Jackson
Tracklist
01. Mercaderes de la Fe
02. Violencia Inducidea
03. Intervalo
04. Sin Limites
05. Idolos de Babilonia
06. Tormento
07. Traicion
08. Sigo en Pie
09. El Aguante
10. Fortaleza
11. Luz a mis Pies
12. Exterminio
Band Members:
Néstor Garrido – Guitar and vocals
Mauro Valverde – Bass and backing vocals
Sebastian Lopez – Drums
Emmanuel Rodriguez – Guitar
Albums:
“Guerra Espiritual” (2014) [review]
Record Label: Independent, 2015
Weblinks: Facebook
Buy the album here:
Holland: First Paradox
Norway: Nordic Mission
Video for ‘Sin Limites’