[ReinaldoRotten]

For those that are not in close contact with the South American scene, Patriarca is Thrash Metal band from Asunción Paraguay

It was November 2004 the first time I saw Patriarca playing in my hometown Cascavel, on the same night 2 other Paraguayan metal bands devastated the place Overlord (whose some members later on engaged The Force, one of the best Latin American bands in this guy’s opinion) and Sacro a very cohesive and full force forward Heavy Metal band, these team alone would already blow your mind, but not only our “neighbors” were playing that night, also Bywar a Thrash Metal legend here in Brazil were playing for the second time in Cascavel, and of course they had already “spread the word” about the strike of Thrash’s Return (which is a song on Bywar’s Invincible War by the way) and encountered the seeds they had left in their previous concert materialized into the local band Alcoholic Mosh.
Well “all” this introduction and display of underground memorabilia is to mention that the load of energy that this night carried wasn’t small, and when I saw those three guys on stage, one of them was wearing a DRI t-shirt, I thought, “here it comes” and it indeed it was a killer concert, the experience of listening to those guys live was like you had been thrown to the wall by those gigantic speakers worthy of a Quiet Riot’s video clip. Despite the fact that they sing in Spanish (which is close to Portuguese but not so much) we could understand the feeling that they were passing towards us, the feeling of uncontrolled anger mixed with eagerness to party and a lot of passion for the music. That was a magic night everybody.
I was addicted to their music and you can imagine the honor that it was for me to accept this duty of reviewing their first full-length album, by this time you already know that this review won’t be done by a skilled reporter from a must-pay-to-appear magazine but by a fan.
So let’s talk about the album itself! The first song “Perros Salvajes” is a very straight forward “bay area like” track, which talks about the energy created in a Thrash metal concert, especially in Paraguay from what I’ve heard and witnessed the metalheads are truly *Mad Dogs (roughly translated), I would like to highlight the guitar work here, which consists of solid rhythms and a strong solo work, these features are throughout the recordings and I won’t keep mentioning them, as it would be redundant say that a full forward thrash metal act has a strong guitar work.
The second Patriarca’s strike consists of “Yo sigo mi ley” *I follow my own laws, this one has a “single potential” well built melody, and that feeling of a “Chuck Billysh” vocals, I would like to mention the quality of the studio work here, for the instruments are greatly equalized and you can listen to everything in a loud and clear sound.
“Basta de piedad” *Enough of mercy carries that feeling of punching a cheating bastard right in the face, since I’m not that violent a punch in the mind is good enough for me, this one has that uncontrolled anger I mentioned earlier and as you listen you get the feeling “This thing live must be IT”
“Verdad o Maquinación” brings a different approach in terms of drum flow, you get the feeling that it is a machine, but not in the sense of that computerized drums, but in the sense of a bulldozer joining some saw-like guitar work, very original and constituting the identity of this band which is not surfing any wave, but its own.
The mid-song is represented by “El Salvaje” *The Wild One, now this is IT! For me one of the finest tracks in the album ‘cause it delivers that rock and roll feeling that surrounds all of us no matter how submerged in extreme music you always have time to listen to that Sabbath right? So in this one you’re able to witness some good old rock and roll riffs before the Thrash takes over, the vocals and the melody is something worth to mention and the bass line is nice enough for you to “air bass” it’s not hard to find yourself thrashing alone sitting in your room (my case).
In the end of El Salvaje you’re able to listen a vinyl scratching sound which is the bridge for the next bullet in your head “Incierto Porvenir” this one brings the solid Thrash Metal back on its tracks (when was it off???) by this time I would like to mention once again that the melody is all around these guys, in some other Thrash bands we check a big attention to the speed of light of the guitar work, Patriarca takes the melody road, and by doing this it really builds a sound which is consistent and possible for those ones who cherish rhythm in spite of speed slaughter.
“Salir a Matar” the seventh son of the album, is not left behind by the others in anyway, the lyrics are consisted of that urge, that revolt that permeates the reality of us South Americans, once again you get the feeling that you want to see this live, the energy seems to burst out of the speakers and the final choruses really take you “there”.
“Rockandrollero Azotador” brings us the experience of a true Paraguayan metal night, narrating a night filled with bars, rock and roll and feeling, again the Patriarch stands its ground by delivering great music focused on the quality of its melody and flow of vocals.
Getting tired of headbanging and moshing over your bed? Heads up because “Fria Venganza” *Cold Vengeance arrives with a 70’s rock and roll riff marked by a really coated drum work that makes your head go up and down as it were asserting the quality of the sound that hits your ears. The chorus is easy enough for you to memorize it the first time you listen to it and deserve an English translation “Sweet vengeance, cold vengeance, I’ll lit a cigarette and watch you die” ain’t this serious kick ass lyrics or what??
If your neck isn’t completely destroyed after all these strikes “El Rugir del León” will do the job, it’s worth to mention that Paraguay was devastated by a bloody war in the past, carried by Brazil, Uruguay and Argentina, (yes they were fought by three countries) and the lyrics of this track seem to tell us about a yearning of revenge and the tale of a nation taken down to the ground. A hell of a way to close this full length full of anger, energy and melody, the velocity is there but it’s not the focus, a western like theme is played in the middle of “El Rugir Del León” and it takes you to those Ennio Morricone feelings that convey the image of an outlawed land filled with “bandoleros”.
The “bandoleros”are:

Javier González Comas – vocals and Guitars
Favio Servín – Bass
Hernán Comas – Drums