Review by Fran on January 31, 2026.

Well, this is Culto Negro’s first long play; it features a couple of rerecorded songs from previous releases (“Verso Adivinado” and “Violencia Psicoactiva” - named “Necio Vicio de la Mente” and “El Disparo” on the EP “Desdoble” and “Salvajes Destructores” also present on the same EP), but most of the songs are unreleased. You can label the style of the band as speed metal even though it borders on black metal at times -there are some blast beat sections thrown in here and there- and punk, especially on the vocal treatments. I’d say the riffing approach is pretty much the same as on every Culto Negro effort, but production-wise they went for a more cavernous sound on this album. While “Absimal Speed Metal” (sic) and “Desdoble” are drier, more thrash metal driven, you can hear every instrument at the front of the mix and such; “La Noche Oscura Del Alma” has more reverb on the mix, and it sounds more chaotic as a whole.

Execution wise, the master tracks are as tight as a nun’s pussy. Both guitars and the bass are perfectly layered; each palm muted stroke and powerchord slide is on time, even if the sound of the band is kind of raw, there’s a lot of enjoyment when the players perform at this level, it lifts the songs. The drumming is neat too; it is made of relentless double bass drum sections through marching beats all over the album; I bet it's a good cardio session for the guy. On the tom fills, you can also feel the dexterity and precision of the player, and the cymbal work is alright, I mean; the band’s sound is straightforward, but you can tell when the instrumentalists are good. The vocals are mainly high-pitched, raspy, and angry, but there arealso some lower undertones used, nice range. They use a heavy delay effect over the vocal track that is a trademark of the band since it has been used on all of their records.

The cassette version includes a cover from Spain’s traditional heavy metal titans “Muro”; the song is called 'Epilogo'. At first, I thought it was a weird choice because Culto Negro’s sound is so harsh compared to “Muro” but it turned out really well. The CD version features a cover from Argentinians “Hermetica”, which I could understand better because both bands build their songs around the same rhythmic argument: palm muted tremolo riffs and marching double bass drum beats. Conceptually speaking, the dark night of the soul is a religious metaphor that implies spiritual hardship. It was also commented on by Carl Gustav Jung as an inevitable phase of individuation in which the subject needs to confront and reconcile with their “shadow”. Lyrically speaking, the album’s songs talk about drugs, emptiness, feelings of despair, astral trips, urban decay, and whatnot. All in all, one has to admit this is their best record so far.

Rating: 8.3 out of 10