Black Trip is an independent demo band from Mexico. This is their 2nd Ep, and overall 4th release Firewind. It’s a 3-tracker, so it’ll be hard to describe the music fully, since they tend to mix different styles. This is primarily death metal with a vast tecnhnical approach mixed with The Crown-ish thrash, and even a touch of heavy and anthemic metal. They play with face-fisting intensity, and the riffs and drums are loaded with aggression and speed. The vocals are hoarse and guttural, packed with burning anger, however, they tend to get a little too croaky for my part, which then on the other hand will appeal more to the average death metal fan. As far as the production goes, the band has done a proper job mixing this into a, in lack of better words, comfortable listen. The guitars sound thick and razor sharp at the same time, the drums are well-presented and are never in danger of being drowned by the thunderous riffs nor overwhelming everything with their sharp edge. If there were to be something to complain about, it would be that the guitar solos are a little too audible. However, those are few and far between and notably short. That being said, this isn’t particularly well-played. The solos are rather sloppy, and the drummer does sometimes try to pull of tricks that he isn’t entirely capable off. Not anything big, but enough to dock the band some points.

On to the songs then. As I already mentioned, these guys like to mix up different styles. The opener Storm The Might is a straight-forward head-bangable deadly thrasher. The riffs are chopping, and the deep growls by Gennaro Ammendola are haunting and demonic. The influences from heavy metal are clearly visible on the title-track. The chorus is anthemic, packed with gang-shouts and the likes, while the verse contains the usual death-like blast-beats. Brave of Blood is a mid-paced track with pretty cool riffs and a little clearer singing. A pretty cool song, although the solos towards the end are pretty horrible. You would imagine that a band with decent experience would polish a little before releasing stuff.. This is not the deal here though, this is raw and dirty all the way, and the sloppy playing actually fits to a certain extent. This is not about showing off, this is about being evil and brutal and Black Trip manages to pull that off in an acceptable manner. If you’re a death metal fan you should give this a try. After four minor releases, a full-length should be on its way, and would definitely be worth checking out.