Review by Richard Henry for MPM
Now on paper this seems like a strange line up, then I thought well Nick Barker played drums for both, unfortunately no Nick tonight with his ongoing health issues, so we have hardcore vibes, and I don’t even know what you would really describe Brujeria as, I mean I first heard them back in I think 93/94 and this is the first time either of these bands have been in Northern Ireland, let’s see what the hell is about to go down here!
Borstal
Refuse to Lose
First track from the “At Her Majesty’s Pleasure” Ep, kicking off with the feedback and the drums before a solid slab of a riff comes in, crowd is sort of quiet tonight to be fair, Pierre up there trying to whip the place up, bass break and then it kicks in, it’s been 24 years since I last saw Pierre with Knuckledust over here, and he has lost none of his grit on the vocals, love the gang vocals as well, is there anything better than fast aggressive hardcore!
Karma
Next track on the ep, a real solid banger of a track, this one really reminds me of Freebase, more that mid-tempo stomper of a track with a belter of a riff, love the start stop parts on it, again big sing along gang vocal parts on this one, its brutal when it kicks up the tempo at the end as well, love it!
New Life
I cannot find anything about this song, so I am assuming it’s a new one!
No Surrender
Hmm maybe not the title for Belfast, but an absolute slamming song, I can’t get enough of fast hardcore, that and the vocals and drum work set’s these guys apart, there are many bands doing it but the drumming is nuts, love that octave guitar line that drops into a heavy chug riff with the gang vocal, just class, then you get the slabs of double bass in there as well, the gang vocal at the end is really cool as well, great track, the crowd is starting to get going!
Worm Food
A real bouncy slow riff on this one, we have a few two steppers in the crowd, which is nice to see, then boom the tempo kicks right up and finally we have a pit going on, real sick of it all vibes on this one when it did go up-tempo, again some lovely drum work going on here, the only thing that I don’t like is I don’t know who the drummer is to give him a mention because fair play to him he is putting in a shift covering Nicks parts!
We Stand as One
Real bouncy riff on this one, real sort of Oi song, even dare I say a bit of melody to the vocal on this, love the double bass part that kicks in, some good drumming going on back there, again when it kicks into tempo it’s just classic hardcore, I bloody love it, solid slabs of meaty riffs and some great drumming on this one with Pierre leading the proceedings from on the floor, both on the stage and in the crowd!
Bloodclaart/Rubbish Dad
Again, these must be new tracks as i cannot find any footage or anything about them online!
King of the Jungle
Bass intro to this and then the band come in, you can hear it building up, then it sort of goes all sing part vocal and hops between a few time feels, great riff especially when it hits the half time part, its taken Belfast a bit to wake up but the pit is active again, then it kicks in, I love the different parts, even the slower double bass with the gang vocal for the song name!
Vicious Circles
Drum intro and nasty riff comes in, this is a proper closer to the show, great song, good breakdowns and gang vocals, and just great riffs, it’s what these guys do, few shapes being thrown behind me, despite the not-so-great turn out, these guys are absolutely class, I loved seeing them for the first time and I hope they come back again, absolute slab of aggressive U.K.H.C!!
I absolutely loved these guys, the energy from onstage, I was buzzing, and they did not disappoint, please come back!
Brujeria
I am going to preface this by saying I am going to say nothing about the lyrics for the songs, because I don’t know what they are!!!
Mochado
Single note riff ominously kicks off as these masked figures walk onstage and then it kicks in, thrash beat with the double kicks before it slaps into a hardcore vibe, I have no idea what we are singing about then the blasts come in, it’s quite a sight the two guys in the middle all masked up shouting at you, very Napalm in feel this one!
El Desmadre
Speaking of Napalm that riff I pure Napalm and so is the feel when the drums slam in, it’s just pure entertainment watching this, I think the thing that maybe gets lost is just how potent the band is, the drummer is absolutely nuts and the bass and guitar playing is tight as anything, the crowd is again really quiet tonight and not a lot happening behind me!
Cruza La Frontera
Real hardcore feel to this one, that riff and the bass line going on, i forgot how hardcore some of this stuff is as all I really remember is the more death metal sounding/grindcore stuff, this makes so much sense with Borstal on the bill, love this one it’s a real contrast to the first two songs tonight!
Mexorcista
An almost black metal feel riff at the start of this one, really slow with just a vocal over it, even when the drums kick in its a real slow grindy feel to it, then it sort of picks up and gets a bit more aggressive, then backs down again into the riff, there’s just so much to watch on the stage between the two vocalists and the other guys in the band, then the riff changes and it proper picks up, I love these parts, again the drummer is putting in a serious shift back there!
Angel De La Frontera
Now this must be a Dino riff, it just sounds like Fear Factory the way it kicks in, even when you get into the vocals in the verse and then into the chorus riff, its unmistakenly him, really crushing syncopated riff with the drums, love the middle with the groovy sort of drum section leading it, again it’s one of those things, you have no idea what they are singing about but it doesn’t really matter!
Colas Del Rata
This is the first track I heard from these guys, and it is pure grindcore, early Napalm and Terrorizer sounding, that opening riff, now myself and my mate were signing away the chorus part of this one, I love when the blasts kick in, an absolute belter of a track, less than a min and a half and its done!
Raza Odiada (Pito Wilson)
There’s a Dino riff, now that you hear it again and after all the years of Fear Factory it’s so obvious who has written what riffs, the title track of the album, this takes me back to my youth, a real sort of groove track and not like the last one from the same album, love it!
Chingo De Mecos
Off the second album, as soon as you hear that riff kick in you know what you are about to get, I love the now three frontmen on the stage, you have no idea who is next to do what, prowling around the stage laying off vocals to each other, blast beats, yes, love this one again it’s just that real early mix of Terrorizer and Napalm in parts and i am a huge fan of that, Belfast really hasn’t woken up tonight, really not great, although fair play to the three or four people in the sombreros, they read the memo, i did have a bandana covering my face for this one to get into the spirit!
La Ley Del Plomo
Pure Dino, if you played the start of that to someone, they would probably say Fear Factory till the vocals kick in, good pacing of the set though, after a few brutal ones you get something like this to bring it down a bit, it’s a brutal track but it’s just a slow dragging feel just battering away on you for two mins!
Desperado
That riff at the start is brutal then when the kicks come in with it, I always loved this track, then that slidy riff comes in and you are back in blast beat and grind land, then that hardcore speed vibe, so short so brutal and so god damn good!
Castigo Del Brujo
Really slow heavy riff with the vocals in straight away, totally different feel to the last song as well, and the thing is, the music must grab you cause the lyrics are not in English, that’s the part I love, this one is made for the mosh pit to just have people swinging round it but unfortunately not tonight, I don’t know if given the age of half the audience that they don’t know the tracks, it’s really odd!
Marcha De Odio
Interesting intro to this one if you have ever heard it before, like a radio station playing, this one keeps the more mid-tempo feel of the last one, a real heavy headbanger of a track, plus it gives the drummer a bit of a break from the blast beats, again its well-paced set list, now I will be honest, this one I haven’t heard before but I really liked the feel of it musically!
Revolucion
I love that really twisted drum beat intro at the start before the band kicks in fir the verse parts, just a real beatdown heavy double bass verse with a really grinding riff, when the second riff comes in and it goes half time, that’s a properly brutal heavy part, viva la revolution as we have in the song, all three singers prowling the stage and again it’s so much to watch on the stage and properly entertaining!
La Migra (Cruza la Frontera II)
Again, this is like a hardcore song much like the first one, and if it wasn’t for the vocals, you could hear it and think of a band like Madball or something, this is a follow up to the Cruza la Frontera earlier in the set list!
Consejos Narcos
Back to the first album, that’s a yes for me, and again that’s such a Dino riff now that I hear it live now, now we did have a few joints handed up onto the stage before this one, not sure the girl doing security really knew what to do, however this one required a bit of audience participation and everyone obliged on this one, great track!
Brujerizmo
After the intro we kick into this one, now this to me hearing it now reminds me of the riff to Edge crusher, massively, even the offset drum beat part, more of a slow grinder of a track this one, it sort of stays the one pace till the end where it picks up a bit, i am going to be honest it was hard to think how many songs where actually played tonight, some went in really quick and you don’t realize your nearly a the end of the set!
Matando Gueros
Last track for tonight and we have a headless man, two machetes, three singers and three musicians onstage, kicking off on a slower tempo on this one it’s got a few people bouncing around behind me in the pit, bit sing along on the chorus, well if you know the words to it, and before you know it that is the set over, well………..
Marijuana
If you know the song the Macarena and you substitute some of the lyrics then you end up with this, the singers are doing this to a backing tape as the other guys start packing up behind them!
I loved it, the early stuff is where I know them from for sure, but the whole set was fantastic, really entertaining, the three singers were always busy, and the musicians were razor sharp behind them, go catch them while they are in the UK. It was a great show!
