Lago
“Marianas ”
2010
LAGO are a four piece death metal band out of Phoenix Arizona with the vocalist also doubling as a guitar player. The release I am listening to is Marianas out on Pale Horse Records. It’s a five song EP and is straight up death metal, influenced by the old school bands from the 90’s. I am all about some death metal and these guys deliver, with low tuned crunchy guitar, blast beats on drums, and death metal vocals that rang from the low end growls to high end howls that dance along the black metal borderline.
I am a lover of the Florida death metal faves such as Death, Obituary, and Morbid Angel and I can hear influences from all three of these icons in Lago’s music, the most prominent being Morbid Angel I would have to say, but early Morbid Angel specifically. And don’t think they are just copycats because they take the early Morbid Angel sound and bring it in to the twenty first century and make it their own.
Track one is called Marianas and starts off at an uptempo pace featuring a short bass guitar solo moment, followed by some blistering guitar work at break neck speed, with a slower bridge with a doom feel to it, and then wash,rinse and repeat from there. Song number two, Youma, takes you down a winding road of crunchy guitars and low, low death metal vocals that go from sounding like Dethklok to Burzum. Track three entitled Arbitrary Conflict is a blistering track that makes you want to bob your head and throw up the devil horns with the high pitched black metal style vocals screaming at you from behind a wall of straight up death metal madness, great song. Center Of A Wounded Nation is track four and is a nice little hate-filled anthem featuring several tempo changes and a nice guitar solo. Track five is called Headless/Heartless and starts of a little doom laden with alternating vocal styles leading into a slow, groovy doom laden chorus/breakdown and ends rather quickly.
Very cool band and I wish they had a larger catalog of music for fans to enjoy and I urge them to continue doing what they are doing.
Tracklist:
1. Marianas
2. Youma
3. Arbitrary Conflict
4. Center Of A Wounded Nation
5. Headless/Heartless (His Hero Is Gone cover)
https://www.facebook.com/LagoMetal
Members:
Garrett Thomas – Bass/Vocals
Cole Jacobsen – Guitars/Vocals
Manuel Dominguez – Guitars
Brian Miller – Drums
Rating: 8 out of 10
~Soul Torn Down