CD Info
2011
Mechanix Records / Chile
10 Tracks
English Lyrics

It doesn’t take much to get me interested in a female fronted band from Santiago, Chile. After all, I listed fellow Santiago female fronted band Six Magics as one of my top 5 releases in the world last year and their vocalist, Elizabeth Vasquez is one of my highest rated performers on earth. Well, interestingly enough, I see a lot of similarities between Six Magics and Sacramento, especially musically. Now, I know some bands don’t want to be compared to other bands in any way, but, when I compare you favorably to Six Magics, I have given you the ultimate compliment.

Sacramento is mostly Chilean. There’s a bass player, one of several, who lives in Sweden but the rest are pretty much from Santiago, one of the more interesting locations on the South American continent. Vocalist Laura Vargas has a vocal style that is not dissimilar to that of the Six Magics vocalist; it’s not the soprano operatic we so often find in Western Europe, it’s also not the screaming vocal we find in other female fronted bands. It is, however, a strong vocal that goes from the sultry on tracks like Falling Apart Save Me My Son to the more classically metal in heavier selections like Forsaken. In fact, my only complaint is that the music is not sung in Spanish, at least a little of it, and we discussed that oversight somewhat. An interview with SC writer Robin Stryker discusses that issue in some depth. There is a male vocal, a death metal vocal, provided by band founder and guitarist Alejandro Espinosa.

There’s a lot of interesting stuff related to this band, the name, the CD cover, musical direction. Most of it, however, we’ll leave to that Robin Stryker interview. Here, we’ll focus on the music, and there’s enough there to drive the discussion, it’s really strong music.

Weight of Sin begins with Left Hollow, a strong metal rocker with slashing guitars, pounding drums and the signature metal vocals that drive the music. . . combined with those male death vocals. The song itself is a dark one, Laura suggests the song "is about a nightmare I had when I was a kid ... I had it for a very long time when I was living in Porvenir, the very south of Chile......... when I heard the first riffs of the song the first time the words ‘Waking up I saw’ came to my mind instantly.... and then I just remember that nightmare and I make them lyrics..." The second song, the first time I listened to it, sounded so much like Six Magics at the beginning that I thought iTunes had skipped to a different place. But, the vocals went into a somewhat different direction; Laura even tiptoes into a soprano direction on this one. The song is Let the Death Embrace You and it is a signature Chilean sound, with some of the best guitar work you’re going to hear anywhere. Again, the lyrics are dark and suggest a deeper level of contemplation than what we get in so much of the popular music landscape, especially in America. Laura talked about where this one came from, "Let the death Embrace you ..... ufffff ... this one took me on a trip when Alejandro showed me this song ... I listened to it and I visualized someone wondering on a desert alone trying to survive... fighting against madness and death .. and finally, this ‘someone’ just gave up death's embrace ...... is amazing what a song can tell you without words.... " It never fails to amaze me where people come up with their ideas for songs, but then, you never knew some of the old Southern rockers. . . . and quite often, they didn’t make it up.

There are a number of interesting themes throughout Weight of Sins, I mean, given where this music is coming from, and the self-inflicted pain we get on the CD cover, that shouldn’t be a surprise. Purple is one of these, it’s a solid metal sound, a beautiful metal sound. Certainly a high point of the CD, again, top notch guitar work, vocals that are overwhelming at times. And the production work is some of the best on the CD. Lyrically, Laura sings:

Rain comes down and walks with me
It becomes my only companion
Not letting me here all alone
It won’t freeze my dying hopes

Interestingly enough, Laura sings some of this with what can only be described as a Spanish accent, something that doesn’t occur often in the work. But, it got me thinking, wouldn’t it sound just as good sung in Spanish. . . just a thought.

Not all the tracks take that haunting, sultry direction. Everything to Waste is a solid rocker, both vocalists take this one to the house, it’s hard, it pounds and it provides another capability that certainly expands what Sacramento is all about. Again, some really nice production, you get a tight feeling about each individual component of the music, especially when they give those guitars their just rewards, something that just can’t happen often enough.

Die Alone, or Fallecer as it was known previously, again takes us on a dark lyrical journey. Laura didn’t provide an interpretation to this one, it was written by Alejandro. But, it’s another rocker, done in that dark delivery that the band seems to be most at home with. Again, I love to hear the Spanish version, but the English also provides some first rate Gothic:

Say how could I be reborn
From all these ashes
I’ll know how to see again
My so wounded soul
From the shadows I will sing
My long affliction
And I wish I could sleep along...

You get a variety of themes here, although there does seem to be a certain consistency at some level. Laura points out, "In other lyrics I was feeling angry or upset when I wrote them, or happy ... who knows!!! hahah ... I always write lyrics that mean something .... I hate singing something ‘empty’ and always liked when people interpret them their own way or they identify themselves with a word or phrase, etc.... Life itself is a huge inspiration to write about ....." How very nicely put.

Certainly another feature of the music is the variety of sounds produced. For instance, although there is some consistency to the guitar work, and it’s very strong guitar work as I may have mentioned, there are occasional diversions from the traditional. Forgotten in Time uses a different guitar sound, several, in fact, to augment the message. Actually, the only thing missing is a good Spanish guitar, maybe next time.

Take Me Away, which concludes the CD, actually begins with a bit of an electronic component. And, since it’s a "dance" oriented sound, that seems to make sense. Almost a little Guano Apes to it, both in terms of the instrumental and the vocal. A nice addition to the overall direction of the CD.

Sacramento is another reason to take the South American female fronted music scene seriously. A solid musical component backing up some seriously interesting ideas. In fact, the only thing I might request would be . . . Podríamos por favor hacer al menos un poco de esto en español. Other than that, solid in every respect.

9.5 / 10 

• Prev
• Next