Review: Six Beer - Lengua de Serpiente (1989)

 

Origianal cover for 1989 EP, EMI Capitol de México. 
Reedited as limited edition CD by American Line Productions.

 When the music turned "metálica"

We bring another debut from one of the pioneering bands of the genre in Mexico: Six Beer from Querétaro City. In this case, a quintet of brothers, Gerardo (vocals), Ricardo (guitar and backing vocals), Rogelio (bass) and Fernando (drums) Mendoza Rangel, along with guitarist Antonio Martínez Guerrero; they managed to stand out with a powerful proposal and with a quite defined style of what we could hear from other bands of the time. The version we reviewed here is the one Discos y Cintas Denver published, which includes 3 bonus songs: El Wine, Celda Negra and Muerte y Destrucción.|

We find a material which production, by the standards we are used to hear from the first albums in Avanzada Metálica, sounds quite clean and powerful, as expected considering that this EP was produced by Luzbel's Greñas. The tone of the guitars is less distorted than you might expect, although it suits the restrained and careful style that the album has in general. But something different happens with the guitar solos, which are mostly short, but charged with energy and which help to create a threatening and epic atmosphere at times with those arrangements with dive-bombs from time to time. Of the riffs themselves, they are simple but creative, powerful and if they are not malicious (just listen to the title track), they manage to make you headbang in camaraderie with them. And they are accompanied by a drums that make them sound like a locomotive which they don't stop adding coal to from the beginning to the end thanks to Fernando's work. It is necessary to mention that it is in the first song in which the mix manages to do justice to the drum work, since it is buried a bit in the rest of the album. It's also a shame that the bass lines can't be fully appreciated in the recording beyond the punch in the mix.

The style of the album as a whole fits more into the label of Heavy Metal with overtones of thrash than a purely thrash material. It begins by punching violent and full of brute force, however, this feeling is not kept throughout the recording. Let's take a look at the song 'Metálica' as well as the bonus 'El Wine', both with less serious lyrics and made to enjoy with the audience, with a strong orientation towards a Glam that makes you think of Pantera's first albums (before Phil Anselmo) than in the decadent and furious style heard at the beginning of the album. And they are not bad songs at all, instead, their chorus invite you to join in and the solos, although brief, are catchy. They're a decent addition to the record for those who like to vary their listening a bit, but for the diehard fan and purist, these are two tracks that could be skipped without a hitch. But outside of these two funny episodes, we return to a train of aggressiveness and apocalyptic fantasy that undoubtedly capture our attention more.

The themes that stand out are ‘Terror Nocturno’, ‘Maldita Profecía’, ‘Lengua de Serpiente’ and ‘Muerte y Destrucción’; all of them worthy examples of thrash and capable of turning on the fires of an audience at a concert and raising your fist to the sound of the band. As said, sometimes a touch of heavy metal or hard rock appears here and there, especially in choruses or interludes. A case of this can be seen in the ambitious and epic ‘El Fin está cerca’, which features several rhythm changes, with a collection of great and devastating riffs that change as it goes on, sets up and down the speed. It would be a perfect song if it wasn't for the abrupt way when those clean guitars appear, which do not match the level of the rest of the production and are the least refined at an instrumental level throughout the album.

Also, let's be honest, something in which the album does not stand out are in its lyrics, which orbit around terror and a catastrophic end of the world, but are not consistent in terms of ryhtm. You can let the rhymes pass in a song, but when you hear that Gerardo has to speed up his pronunciation so that the line of the verse fits with the rhythm of the song, you can realize that they could have worked a little more to make it work better. The tone of his voice fits most of the time with the music, with a harshness that makes you take it seriously, as well as cleaner tones when the situation needs it; however, there are times when it feels like he doesn't know where to take the melody. Unfortunately, this happens a lot with the finishes of choruses so as in ‘Maldita Profecía’, which loses a bit of that bellows that you hope to sing with enthusiasm. However, the lowest point on the entire album is undoubtedly one of the bonus tracks: ‘Celda Negra’. It is a power (-less) ballad where the music and the content of the lyrics are not bad per se, but carries the burden of a vocal interpretation that feels made halfways, let's leave it at that, it is truly the most regrettable track of this version.

But we're not going to end with such a negative vision, the infernal madness that is achieved throughout the rest of the album outweighs its defects. It is undeniable that it is a good starting material to get to know the band and, as we have seen before, you cannot always expect a masterpiece from a debut. Just lie to us and tell us you didn't shake that brain to the beat of the band on any of the songs, you liar. This snake's split sharpened tounge is imbued with metal venom and is an album which we are glad to revisit anytime.

This versión is included in the compilation Lengua de Serpiente/Vida Futura and you can purchase it from Discos y Cintas Denver

Lengua de Serpiente/Vida Futura. Discos y Cintas Denver

Personnel

Gerardo Mendoza Rangel    - vocals
Ricardo Mendoza Rangel     - guitars and chorus
Antonio Martínez Guerrero   - guitars
Rogelio Mendoza Rangel     - bass
Fernando Mendoza Rangel  - drums