What perfect timing for a new Calavera Calavera album to come out! The nights are growing longer and the air colder as All Hallow’s Eve approaches. Calavera Calavera provide the perfect soundtrack to the season.
Their tracks on their new album “Aleister Crowley” (a play on the influential occultist who inspired many other awesome bands and artists throughout the years including the beloved legends Led Zeppelin) keep the Moombahton/Dubstep darkness alive and well. This has become the Calavera Calavera sound and I look forward to it with every album release.
Yet to disappoint me, the Madrid based Calavera Calavera, start things off with a beautiful eerie introduction “Abbey if Thelema,” with its dark synth organ as the main instrument, the melody sets up the tone perfectly.
The tempo picks up energy with the second track “Meat Is Murder,” the title not to be confused even slightly with The Smiths, delivers a mashup of Moombahton and Dubstep with quick energetic and effective transitions.
“Breathtaking View Of A Storm” comes in as the third song, starting with an ethereal soundscape followed by the rhythmic synth lines that cleverly lends itself to an interesting acoustic sounding drum break. The drums continue to drive this beautiful number, which later gets invaded by a bit of Dubstep effects in the most interesting way. The break down of synth arpeggios and a synth line that almost sounds like an electric guitar, is simply lovely and powerful. This song is really something unique. There isn’t much music like this being composed these days.
By the fourth song “Anthropophagie: Macarrones con chorizo” all sense of easiness and peace disappear as the heartbeat sets up the powerful booming kick drum along with distorted vocal samples and total sonic bedlam in the greatest sense possible.
The fifth song is brilliant in many ways. First it pulls us in immediately with a very strong melody, then the Progressive House beat comes in and you find your spirit lifted up high. The Dubstep breaks serve as a reminder of the darkness that is the “הַשָּׂטָן” (Hebrew: Devil).
The occult star himself is revered with love from the sixth song. Being my favorite song on the album “Aleister Crowley” is an electronic music masterpiece. The melody is very lovely, the rhythms used are all too perfect, the guitar steals the show for me though. This is one of my favorite songs of the year that I’ve heard. This album is one of the best too, making my top 10 list, which I will publish at the end of the year (they will be on my top ten albums of the year list two years in a row).
“We Love Satan” simply says it all. Who doesn’t? He lets us stay up as late as we want, we don’t have to follow any rules we don’t like, we govern ourselves emotionally and physically, he was totally dissed by God, the best music is inspired by him, what isn’t there to love about this entity?
I was privileged to be able to listen to this seventh and final song on the album a month or so ago. It still is as fun as when I first heard it. The chanting sample is catchy with the originally composed music. The music is schizophrenic, which on many occasions can be a bad thing, especially when I say it about a song, but it isn’t bad here. It lends itself to the style and the very nature of the song. The ending is especially very dope with the rhythm guitar.
Needless to say at this point but I’ll say it anyway, I am a huge Calavera Calavera fan. As I stated above, I am always excited to check out a new release from them. I love to see how this horror/gothic scene continues to inspire artists involved in the newest of genres.
Download the album for free and feel free to express your love for their work on their Facebook page: Mr. Calavera Calavera.