Where previous Spine albums had cover art that gave you a pretty good idea of what to expect from the music, that’s not the case with third full length Raíces. Looking at the photo of the young boy and the fairly minimalist style, you might be thinking that the hardcore/powerviolence band has gone the direction of some of their genre peers and pivoted towards completely different genres. Instead, Spine has gotten faster, heavier, and as intense as possible for this whirlwind of an album. Almost every song clocks in at a minute or less and there’s an emphasis on blasting and abrasive riffs that feel like they can easily level buildings. It’s a quick burst that’s easy to throw on repeat thanks to the twelve-and-a-half-minute run, but there’s some substance underneath the wall of sound that will make listeners want to give Raíces those additional spins.
Previously Spine fell somewhere between faster hardcore/powerviolence and mid-tempo hardcore that had a noticeably old-school sound to it, but on this album they’ve ramped up the speed significantly and very rarely let their foot off the gas. This makes the songs come a bit closer to bands like Dropdead, Infest or Siege and the intensity of the tonality and production values have been increased to capture a similar type of fury and power. “Odio” kicks things off with a burst of feedback and a super short sample of Latin music before the blasting drums and abrasive guitar and bass come roaring in. With most of the songs under a minute, they often seamlessly transition over and make Raíces feel like one cohesive piece that’s broken up into movements. All the standard powerviolence and faster hardcore elements are at play here, as you get tense build-ups that explode into all-out blasting and abrasive leads while the one track that cracks the two-minute mark slows things down for a dense and sludgier approach. As is typical for the genre the emphasis on speed and intensity can make some of the individual moments blur together, but there are still specific riffs and transitions that jump out at me over repeat listens. One element that works in Spine’s favor is their use of samples, which pulls from different Hispanic influences. The way the title track transitions over from a fast and furious attack into a feedback laden sample stands out over time, and it is reminiscent of how Magrudergrind used hip hop elements on their first album to break things up. It’s also worth mentioning that Raíces sounds huge and in your face, utilizing a louder, punchier tone that’s a bit fuller than some of the other powerviolence material out there.
One of the more impressive elements to Spine’s music is that the vocals consistently match the intensity of the instrumentals. Considering just how loud and powerful the riffs and drums are throughout Raíces, this is no easy feat but Antonio Marquez nails it through extremely distorted screams/growls that tower above the recording. Marquez switches between English and Spanish throughout the album, but with just how distorted his performance is it might take a few times through before you start to distinguish which is which. I think the production choices should once again be praised, as there is natural separation between the vocals and instrumentals that allow for Marquez to sound like he’s jumping out of your speakers and punching you in the face without completely overpowering the music.
Raíces doesn’t quite reach the classic level of powerviolence for me, but it does come close and is able to match the level of sheer fury as some of the greats. There’s something to be said for a concise album like this that hits as hard as it does and has some well-placed samples to break things up, giving Spine an edge over some of the other groups out there. It’d be interesting to see if they incorporate more of these elements on a future release or just continue to go for straight aggression, but no matter the result it’s been proven that this band’s music is consistently strong. Raíces is available from Convulse Records.
-Review by Chris Dahlberg
