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Gillman: Escalofrío

21/03/12 || Cobal

It’s just me or there’s too much mainstream stuff in metaland these days? I mean, it’s not a secret back in the good ol’days it was all about underground acts, labels, gigs and manufacture, uh? Perhaps I’m being nostalgic, but I remain looking for rare non-shitty obscure projects from around the globe 24/7; otherwise, domination cannot be complete.

Scanning and skimming the web as I do, it’s common to find plenty of worthless releases, but every now and then you run into outstanding ones that make you hold some hope. That’s exactly the way it happened to me with Gillman’s “Escalofrío”. Being Spanish for shudder, this is an unusual record from Venezuela, made back in early 90’s. Apparently, Gillman, leaded by front man Paul Gillman (surprise, surprise…!), is one of the most renowned heavy metal bands in that part of South America and have been around for almost three decades now. Shame on me, I was completely unaware of their existence until recently.

Why unusual? Well, “Escalofrío” is a thematic album based on traditional legends, tales and myths of Venezuela, it goes for a rather peculiar tracks structure and it has a couple features that make it unique. First, lots of research were done to gather all the necessary info to create the literary background on the topic. Many of the stories told here date back to colonial times, and belong to the people’s folklore, so I imagine bringing together some reliable data should have been a lot of work. Don’t you believe me? Take a look to the bibliography these guys DID use here and then we can talk. Second, based on the mentioned above, narrator Porfirio Torres, who’s a famous radio announcer in Caracas, introduces every single song, with a short intervention in which he provides some background on the particular tale the song’s gonna be about.

This results in a intro-song structure all across the album plus an intro and a finale in the beginning and in the end of the conceptual part. Eight stories in total, yet as if that were not enough, there are also four cover songs to be checked after the history and literature lesson. Far from being boring or repetitive, that’s actually a good way to keep the listener’s interest on, and to contextualize us before going straight to the point, the songs themselves.

Musically, I’d say this is a very traditional heavy metal album, except its style is not precisely according to its time. I mean, despites the groove metal hints every now and then, riffs and drum beats are WAY too 80’s: heavy, speed and some kind of thing you could call thrash stuff. Quite pleasant if you ask me… also quite average. Are you familiar with old Spanish acts such as Baron Rojo or Ángeles del Infierno? Expect pretty much the same rough style. Lead guitar player Facundo Coral had his moments in this one.

Now regarding the vocals… that’s a tough one. It’s impossible to listen to a band named after its vocalist and front man and not to pay SPECIAL attention to his work. It’s also impossible to be a front man and to name your band after yourself, singing lamely, right? My point is good ol’Paul CAN sing, that’s for sure. His voice is melodic, strong, well sustained and he plays with it well enough so that sounds kind of aggressive from time to time. Lyrics are not exactly brilliant, though.

It’s not they’re bad, just they repeat almost literally what the narrator had said before, missing the chance to go for a more metaphoric, symbolic or even poetic writing. For fuck’s sake, they had already given all the background we needed, then why not do something, ANYTHING a lil’bit more creative? Take “El Tirano Aguirre” (Aguirre the Tyrant) and its narrated intro for instance, and let me translate for you:

Intro:
“Aguirre the Tyrant went ashore with his crew in Margarita, Paraguachí port. Using the excuse of being lost, he asked for protection which was given directly by the governor himself. He was provided with everything the town had, and all his men were healed. When Aguirre and henchmen were fully recovered, they charged against all those who had helped them before, mercilessly killing and raping…”

Song:
“They say Aguirre the Tyrant went ashore in Margarita. He pretended to be good. What a surprise he’d give! He stole, raped, burnt and killed all the citizens…”

Such a pity… especially ‘cause the song is pretty good actually. Remarkably in this one you can appreciate Gillman’s prominent voice, good song writing and an excellent guitar work. Furthermore, this happens again and again with all the stories.

Notwithstanding the flaws, I still consider this to be a mustlistento within the vast South American list of metal albums. It’s worth both as a record and as an accessible approach to a selected compilation of traditional legends. Of course, some literacy, as well as language skills are needed to fully appreciate that. By the way, I just read “Escalofrío Vol. II” will come soon in 2012!

8,5

Information
Released: 1994
Label: Self released
Website: www.paulgillman.com
Band
Paul Gillman: vocals
Facundo Coral: guitars
Eulalio “Churdy” Toledo: bass
Eduardo Sáez: drums
Porfirio Torres: narrator

Tracklist
01. Escalofrío – intro –
02. Relato del poema negro
03. El poema negro
04. Cuento de el Silbón
05. El Silbon
06. Cuento de la Sayona
07. La Sayona
08. Cuento Pez Nicolás
09. El Pez Nicolás
10. Cuento del tirano Aguirre
11. El tirano Aguirre
12. Cuento De El Carretón
13. El Carretón
14. Relato Del Extraño Caso De Petare
15. El Extraño Caso De Petare
16. Cuento de el Hachador
17. El Hachador
18. Escalofrio – finale –
19. El vagon de la muerte (Arkangel cover)
20. Nada es eterno (Arkangel cover)
21. Children of the grave (Black Sabbath cover)
22. Resistiré (Barón Rojo cover)

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