The year 2010 has been filled with a lot of high quality albums and new music in the hard rock and metal scene. This was expected from the likes of Avenged Sevenfold and Deftones but possibly one of the most delightful surprises is the latest release Dead New World by Ill Nino. Whether you coin the band nu metal or Latin metal, to each his own, I call it purely unique ass kicking metal.
Ill Nino has consistently been known for being one of the most unique sounds in metal with the use of Dave Chavarri and Daniel Couto’s mixture of drums and Latin percussion, which is the epitome of a signature sound that most bands would kill for. And in the album Dead New World, nothing has changed.
“God is Only for the Dead” announces loud and clear that the sextet is here to gouge your ears with metal bliss and insane energy. The addictive chorus sets the tone for the majority of the album, followed soon after by another tune you’ll have cemented in your head for days, “The Art of War.” The entire song is just plain fun to listen to and is spontaneous yet rhythmic all the same. The guitar work by Ahrue Luster and Diego Verduzco is pristinely recognizable and furious. Something any metal fan will immediately recognize and cherish.
The brightest spot on the album is the track “Mi Revolucion.” All of the ingredients that have gone into forming the masterpiece that is Ill Nino are evident. Insane drumbeats, masterful vocals, riffs that are as hard as they are loud, all tied together with a little Latin Soul and you have Dead New World.