Review by Felix on January 1, 2023.

I'm not particularly well versed in punk, but when I stumbled across Acidez, my enthusiasm for them told me to order two albums straight away. So now “Welcome to the 3D Era” is spinning on my turntable and it’s pure joy, musically and visually (red-blue vinyl). But at first, let’s take a look whether these punks are really authentic. They hate the police (“El día que la policía muera”), at least until they are threatened by a horde of homicidal fascists, they are mega-sceptical in terms of technology whose only purpose is obviously to kill mankind (songs 2 – 5 and “Amenaza nuclear”) and of course they do not accept authorities (“Rompiendo cadenas”, “Outlaw warrior”). So far, so good, so necessary. But why do they see a “Futuro decadente”? Is this the luxury edition of “No hay futuro”? However, details aside, I see no lack of authenticity.

“Welcome to the 3D Era” stands with both feet on the filthy, urban ground of punk and the more I listen to the album, the more I like it. There are plenty of positive attributes the musical content deserves. It is energetic, straight, fast, furious, dynamic, homogeneous and (punk, dudes!) naturally reduced to the essentials. Even guitar solos are rather a sign of undesirable adiposis than a stylistic ingrediant they want to use. Okay, “Maquínas de guerra” houses a solo and it shines with a fantastic, almost overly opulent section (from 2:40 to 2:49!). But in general, the dominant components are the constant pace of the drums, the sharp riffs (one per song is more or less enough) and the raw voice of Tupa. He has this snotty charisma that a punk singer needs and given this, it does not matter that he delivers a one-tone-performance. We are not in the opera here! And when I want to hear varied singing, I let my sweet girlfriend drag me into the Christmas cantatas of J. S. Bach (once a year…).

But let’s stick to “Welcome to the 3D Era”. As mentioned above, I enjoy the homogenous album. A very homogeneous one. I would not be surprised if they cross the verse of song A with the verse of song B on stage and probably nobody would recognize this. Yes, the single songs do not boast with an overdose of individuality, but the compositional formula simply works. From this follows, that there is no need to change it and everybody who knows the value of a song like “Don’t Pay the Poll Tax” will enjoy this album. Acidez revitalize Exploited’s refreshing beat in a superb manner. This approach results in a lot of thrilling pieces like “Amaneza nuclear”, "Futuro decadente" or the aforementioned “Maquínas de guerra”. Only minor details could have been done better. For example, the background vocals do not really enrich the songs. But I guess I’ll just get a big “f**k off” from the Mexicans – it is surely not punk-like to moan about bagatelles. Moreover, beer drinkers survivors don’t ask for permission. Thus, let’s see the big picture: “Welcome to the 3D Era” is a properly produced album that does not lack attitude and musical class. Even an ordinary metalhead like me is able to realize this.

Rating: 7.9 out of 10