### Evilhorse: Cabeza de vaca

#### 22/10/12 || jaimeviejo

There must be something in the water or in the substances that people in Spain smoke, because for a few good years now, the Sludge/Doom/Stoner scene has been growing non stop, giving birth to some really good, creative, and hard hitting punishing bands like: “Orthodox”, “Horn Of The Rhino”, “Viaje a 800”, “Lords of Bukkake”, “Adrift”, or the secretive “Ley De Pendulo”.

Now “Evilhorse” joins the scene as another band from Barcelona that really deserves to be listened to.

The album is based around the figure of Álvar Núñez ( AKA Cabeza De Vaca), “a Spanish explorer of the New World and one of four survivors of the Narváez expedition”, an interesting subject that made me go and do some research about the man in question.

They, like many other bands, don’t invent the wheel here with their Sludge Doom, but it is true that the band has managed to create an enjoyable album that flows easily with no low points or boring parts that drag for too long.

The production, made by themselves in their rehearsal space is really impressive and has a welcoming organic feel: the guitar tone is crushing, the bass tone solid, and the drums sound powerful and clean. The songwriting is inventive and dynamic, with ups and downs, that keep the tempo controlled at all times. The vocals are just a harsh growl that without being great is effective and somehow original (at least they didn’t use the bong-boiling weird vocals that you usually find in this kind of bands). The solos and atmospheres add another dimension to the album, but the whole feeling is of walking through a swamp with a bag full of rocks, maybe to recreate the hard path that the conquistadores like Álvar Núñez had to overcome when they arrived at the, back then, Spanish Florida.

The first song, “Awake”, is probably the best one of the three, especially the haunting beginning; then the song switches gears into a mid tempo sludge-walk that ends with a psychedelic solo. “Cabeza de Vaca” is the more straight forward song when it comes to structure but that still keeps the ball rolling before we get to “The Path Must Be walked”, the epic conclusion of the album, where the band shows all its true colors: the dynamics, the melodic solos, the hypnotic riffs, and the overall great sound of the band.

Cabeza De Vaca is just Evilhorse’s introduction to the scene, an ep of three songs that feels short but that leaves you asking for more, and that’s because when you fall in the right swamp, there is no way to get out.

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Discos Macarras
- Website: Evilhorse MySpace
- Band
- Carlos: guitars, vocals
- Joan: bass
- Enric: drums

- Tracklist
- 01.Awake
- 02.Cabeza de Vaca
- 03.The path must be walked