Maligno- Mundo Ciego (2016)

Maligno- Mundo Ciego (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

Unfortunately Mundo Ciego sadly sounds like Maligno's swan song, as the former quintet downsized to quartet has dramatically altered their approach, streamlining their sound and exchanging English for their native Spanish language, in the end, Spanish hasn't hurt Mexican Metal greats Transmetal, and yes, there is even a crazy Japanese band named Corrupted whose lyrics are bizarrely in Spanish.

Maligno's musical output peaked with The Funeral Domine, a record which finally showed a band combining elements from its past records with a stream of creativity pushing them into a more original direction.

Together for more than a decade, Maligno quickly rose to the top of México's metal scene, the band's adoption of the English language seemed like a sign that the band intended to take the international scene by storm, although the band's status as purveyors of doom metal made them unique within the country, their brand of music was pretty generic in a world of bands like Corrosion of Conformity, Cathedral, Down or Trouble, so the band's access to a global market wasn't so easy.

Opening song Sobreviviendo, roughly translated into Staying Alive, no, not the Bee Gees song, is a sign of the actual condition of the band, retreating from the global scene and concentrating their efforts in the national scene, the problem is that after The Funeral Domine something went wrong for the band, and originality went out by the window, although there is plenty of good playing, a very solid rhythm section and great riffs, the band is totally stuck in Corrosion of Conformity's Blind era, streamlined, short and accessible songs sabotaged by a less than competent singer and mediocre lyrics, Lo Que Soy o Por Que are definitely a regression from their somewhat dark cosmic lyrics into something less mature, and despite a galloping bass arrangement the song never lifts off, Automata is fast paced, with decent soloing but too simplistic in its nature, evoking Kill Em All era type of thrash.

The title track simply lacks the cosmic darkness and depth of obvious reference, Black Sabbath's Planet Caravan, and when the band decides to rock hard, they do it in an uninspired way, by simply stealing parts from the classic Mountain song Mississippi Queen and naming it Cuando, and when the band tries hard to expand their sound, it's evident the lack of resources in the guitar department and lack of solid songs put in evidence in Alebrijes.

When compared to The Funeral Domine, Mundo Ciego sounds like the product of a different band, one who is not able to make the jump from doom metal to alternative rock, songs like Te Voy a Ver Caer simply doesn't work and are ideas too vague and lacking cohesion or direction, and again, the band's frustration is evident on its titles, like on Lo Que Queda (What's Left).

Mundo Ciego is simply the sound of a group falling apart and trying desperately to find something to hold on, without a great creative guitarist like Ivan Tamez no longer in the band, they are more generic now than ever, it's a miserable experience, and probably the last thing we will heard from this once promising band.