If you are a fan of one-man Heavy Metal acts, then get a kick out of GRANDIOSA MUERTE's debut album "Egregor!"  GRANDIOSA MUERTE consists of one man who goes by the name Hermes, so he does all the heavy lifting with his music.  Vocals, drums, guitars, the whole nine.  He's only been around for two years but has already come forward with his very first album.  Before releasing the album earlier this year on January 27th, GRANDIOSA MUERTE unveiled two singles from "Egregor": "Sibila" on June 28th of last year and "Destino" eleven days before the album's full release.  Not only is this new artist's debut album a strong start to his career, but it is also a resounding Death Metal album that delivers a powerful blow to listeners' hearing.

As some metalheads may already know, Death Metal bands usually create songs/albums that also have significant doses of Thrash Metal.  This is no surprise, considering the Death Metal genre actually was derived from the musical style of Thrash Metal bands such as SLAYER and KREATOR.  When it comes to "Egregor," GRANDIOSA MUERTE does the exact same thing.  His first two tracks, "Mercurio" and "Destino," have a slow, droning sound like much of MORBID ANGEL's work.  However, from the third track "Hereje" onwards, you'll start to hear more Thrash Metal elements.  A huge chunk of the drumming style throughout the album consists of blast beats (which are prevalent in Death Metal) and the rapid backbeats similar to Thrash Metal drumming masters such as Dave Lombardo and Iggor Cavalera.  As for the guitar work, it mainly consists of tremolo picking but also includes shredding-style lead guitar work concurrent with Thrash Metal.  Hermes's Death Metal vocals are also praiseworthy because his growls are nothing short of deep and menacing.  However, the much louder instruments seem to drown him out, which is likely due to the production work.

For those of who don't know, GRANDIOSA MUERTE is from the Heredia District of Costa Rica.  Therefore, his song titles and lyrics are entirely in Spanish.  If you don't mind entering the lyrics in a translation tool to convert them into your native language(s), then this shouldn't be any trouble.  Once the lyrics are translated, it's clear that the lyrical themes of GRANDIOSA MUERTE's debut album mainly include occultism, paganism, and death.  For instance, the fourth track of "Egregor" is titled "Oculto," which quite literally means "occult."  The next song "Isis sin velo" translates as "Isis without veil," and Isis was worshiped as the goddess of the moon, magic, fertility, motherhood, and protection by the ancient Egyptians.  The lyrics were even darker than the song titles.  One of my personal favorite tracks from the album was "Hereje," meaning "heretic" in Spanish.  In the midst of the mixture of Thrash and Death Metal instrumentation, Hermes growls about the treatment of heretics by the Catholic Church's inquisitors.  The final line of the track is translated as "ashes are a sign of fire," and the song itself rightfully ends with the sound of a fire crackling, as if a heretic is actually being burned at the stake.

So, the realm of Death Metal has yet another artist, and he is already showing off his talents in the genre.  GRANDIOSA MUERTE's debut album "Egregor" is well-made, albeit with slight production issues, and will give new fans hope of greater works to come.  I especially enjoyed hearing the Thrash Metal elements infused with his overall Death Metal sound, and I'm certain other Thrash Metal fans will enjoy that too.  Once again, if you're looking for more solo Heavy Metal artists to listen to, give GRANDIOSA MUERTE and his first album a shot.  He is a newcomer, so his music may be an acquired taste for some, but don't make the grave mistake of passing him up.