A few months ago was released an album that, in my opinion, has remained unjustly buried in the folds of undeground metal in Mexico, the country of origin of both the band that made it and the label that released it. Folklore Negro originated as a solo project of Mauricio Méndez, who under the nickname Feto Majadero released a self-titled full-length in 2020 before reappearing in 2022 with the new album Al Amparo del Silencio, this time with the contribution of bassist Daniel Vázquez. The sound on offer is a death doom well balanced between melody and roughness, in which traits from both Daylight Dies and the highest expression of the subgenre in the great Central American country, namely Majestic Downfall, can be found; all of this, however, is done in a non-derivative manner, as Méndez’s mournful and dramatic sentiment appears as genuine as ever, as do the six tracks that unfold convincingly over fifty minutes, with lyrics declaimed in growl in the mother tongue, in which the weight of death and that of betrayal are inextricably intertwined, creating a lyrical picture that is anything but predictable in this stylistic sphere. Folklore Negro is a pleasant surprise, at least for those who did not know of its existence until now, as Méndez shows a certain ability to maintain high emotional tension throughout the entire album, although the first three tracks remain more intense and compositionally brilliant than the rest; with good guitar work, the musician from Santiago de Querétaro continuously outlines a melodic content capable of capturing the listener, dragging him into a world of insidiously enveloping textures.

2022 – Mexican Steel Prods