Heavy
metal has become more than a style of music since its inception –
it is a culture of its own. A world culture, too, with people of all
different races, religions and creeds taking it and adapting for
themselves. New York-based Latin American band M-16 certainly aren't
the first to do such a thing, but they are no doubt a strong modern
example of personalising the culture of heavy metal. Their debut
album, La Raiz de Todo Poder

(or
The Root of All Power
),
is a fine groove metal record in its own right, but in a separate
context also represents what the music means to them and their
immediate surroundings. This is a band working to defy conventions
that too often worm their way into metal bands – they work in the
seldom-used power-trio format, nearly all of the lyrics are in
Spanish and world percussion like the djembe and bongos interspersed
in various points of the record. The band have injected their
identity into the record, making it considerably more enjoyable in
the process.

It's
evident that the three members of M-16 – bassist/vocalist Daniel
Estrella, guitarist Marcos Medina and drummer James Allen – have
been raised on loud, fast and thrashing music. The energy levels
barely drop for a second throughout the fifty-minute duration of the
record – an impressive feat in itself – and their influences are
worn proudly upon their sleeves. Whether it's the Max Cavalera-esque
vocals of Estrella or Medina's spiralling downtuned riffs that recall
inspiration as recent as the last few Mastodon records, M-16 present
themselves as a true product of their environment. A lot of the songs
aren't exactly ground-breaking in originality, but at the same time
this never appears to be their intention. This is a band that makes
the kind of music they make purely for the love of it. It's a sadly
decreasing rarity, particularly within the boundaries of the genre,
in its place five stone-faced kids with dumb tattoos and even dumber
song structure. M-16, in this respect, less break the mould and more
start a mosh-pit on top of it.

Even
with the barriers of language disallowing non-Spanish speakers to
understand M-16's lyrics, all it takes is a translation of some of
the song titles (“Witchcraft,” “Dawn of the Last Day,” “The
Fury of the Sky”) to decipher a man truly angry with the world
around him. The passion and vitriol with which Estrella delivers his
lyrics cannot be disputed. From a husky growl to a full-throated
screaming tirade, he voice is the kind that can only work on so many
levels, yet succeeds in what it sets out to do. Placed in the
environment of Allen's crashing, thunderous drumming –
incorporating both slick grooves and wild blastbeats – as well as
Medina's wall of tastily-arranged guitar, the fiery aggression
accentuates the finer points of the songs themselves. It has the
potential to grow overwhelming, yet M-16 constantly throw something
into the mix that keeps you interested. An example of this is the
post-grunge curveball of “El Camino” (“The Road”), which
halts the pace of the record considerably but draws you in with its
Alice in Chains-esque harmonies and sweeping transitions into
distortion-heavy overdrive. In fact, the song turns out to be exactly
what the album needed – it is quite possibly the best track on the
entire thing.

La
Raiz de Todo Poder
is an album
of relentless aggression, surprisingly impressive technicality and an
inspiring love of music. If you've a penchant for the heavier brand
of music and are on the look out for something a little different,
there's really no reason why you shouldn't give this – and your
long hair, if applicable – a spin.

RATING: 7.5/10