| CD REVIEW Hamlet |
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Band : Hamlet Although it’s the first time I ever got an album by this Spanich band in my hands, it is far from being the Madrid based act’s debut! Not indeed, because this is already their 10th official album! Formed in 1987 as a pure Hard Rock band, the original band (sóme line-up changes came through over the years, the current membership taken by singer J. Molly, guitarists Luis Tárraga & Alberto Marin, bassist Álvaro Tenorio, and drummer Paco Sanchez) played concert upon concert, and eventually self-released their self-titled mini album. The same style could be witnessed on the 1992 debut official release Peligroso, issued by the DRO label. With quite a bad production, the album was not something they like to talk about, and in fact the album’s existence is ignored by many of their Spanish fans. The band members picked up influences from Thrash, Grunge, and Rap (Pantera, Faith No More, TDCA, etc…) and moved to Florida to record their 1994 album Sanatorio De Muñecos, which is to be seen as the birth of Hamlet as we know it today! Still searching for a direction of their own, the album showed different possibilities, and after the 1996 interim (sorry if that sounds harsh) album Revolución 12.111, the band established t-itself as the pioneer band to start Nu-Metal on their home soil with the epic 1998 album Insomnia. With each following album [2000’s El Inferno, 2002’s self-titled album (also known as the Black Album – hum, anyone see a copy-cat theme here?), 2003’s live double Directo, 2005’s Syberia, and 2006’s Pura Vida], the band’s following grew (sorry for that little play of words), and eventually Hamlet was signed by the regional division of Roadrunner for the 2009 release of La Puta Y El Diablo, the band’s 9th studio album (which was recorded at Madrid’s Cube Studios with Alberto Seara, and mixed & mastered in Los Angeles by Logan Mader – see Gojira, Cavalera Conspiracy, Machina Head, …). Well, Roadrunner being the somewhat “divided” record label it is, with each country’s division deciding for themselves whether they wanna release an album or not, I’m not even sure whether La Puta Y El Diablo is even available in the Benelux. In Germany the album was already released on January 15, and we only got to our promo download because our editor-in-chief’s ties with the label! But setting that aside, there’s a truly great album here! When the Chief and I gave the album a listen to decide which of us in the website would be better suited to review the album, we decided on our Stoner-Psychedelic-Classic Rock specialist, so great was my surprize when he turrned the job down. Oh well, he’s turned other bands down for the pure reason that he didn’t know what they were about. Unknown makes unloved, perhaps? When I gave the album its first serious listening session, I must admit I felt they were in the Stoner direction, although with a touch of difference! Of course there’s the Spanish lyrics (brought semi-shouted, semi-screamed, but very understandable vocals), which make Hamlet’s music different for anyone not native to that language, and to me, personally, Spain has always been connected to sun-drowned landscapes. Then there’s the down-tuning of the guitars, a feat typical for both the Stoner and Nu-Metal genres…and so what makes the difference here, is the Thrash flavouring one can also hear in most the songs. Meanwhile, reputed producer Colin Richardson has made a re-work on the track “7 Historias Differentes” (also the band’s latest video), and this is one of the tracks you might wanna listen to, posted at myspace.com/hamletirrational, in case you don’t quite get my wordly explanation of the band’s sound…or just to get really acquainted with the band, you know! People living in Germany may have been lucky enough to catch a performance by the band on the April tour through their land (I didn’t get things quite right, because explanations were in Spanish, but were they touring with Sepultura, Crowbar, and Armed For Apocalypse?). Defintely an album I’ve enjoyed listening to the extra few times I was able to! 92/100 Tony. |