Introduction:
Cosmic Jaguar is an Avant-garde — Technical Thrash from Ukraine. On May 19th, 2024, Cosmic Jaguar released their second studio album, “El era del Jaguar.” The album was released through Soman Records (France).
Cosmic Jaguar, El era del Jaguar: This review will evaluate every aspect of the album, from its intricate musical composition to its production. Our analysis will provide valuable insights to help you determine if this album is worth adding to your collection.
The First Three Sins of El era del Jaguar
Let’s start by discussing the first three sins of Cosmic Jaguar and their album, El era del Jaguar.
The First Sin, The Strings/Keys: Features groove/jazz fusion-influenced guitar leads, riffs, and solos embedded with intense technical sections, featuring a lot of progression and intricate instrumentation, along with driving rhythms, groovy slap bass riffs, wind instruments, and synths. The Second Sin, The Vocals: Involves various vocal techniques across the play through. The Third Sin—The Percussions: Delves into the vast world of odd-tempo drumming, with multiple beats and fill strikes that add pulsating energy to the music.
The Fourth Sin: Overall Discussion: Unfolds like a musical odyssey, each track a new chapter in the story
Before immersing yourself in the music or reading this article, it’s worth noting that Cosmic Jaguar isn’t your run-of-the-mill thrash/death or groove metal band. Their sound is a sophisticated and remarkably groovy fusion of thrash and death metal, interwoven with progressive and avant-garde elements. This unique blend results in an exceptionally distinctive and captivating auditory adventure, sure to pique the interest of any music enthusiast.
The opening piece, Gods of Sun and War, immediately welcomes listeners with funky and groovy bass riffs –followed suit with fast, technically instrumental and intense vocals.
As soon as the listener continues with the second piece, The Eight Lord Of Nights, and the remaining six pieces, they are taken on a captivating journey of Aztec music and mythology. The album unfolds like a musical odyssey, each track a new chapter in the story, keeping the listener engaged and intrigued.
El Era De Jaguar consists of eight tracks that span forty minutes. Each piece showcases various moods, transitioning from technical segments played at a breakneck speed to groovy jazz-led sections with unique folk-style backing elements and instruments. The album also features a variety of sound effects and tempos, creating a dynamic and engaging listening experience. At the same time, these El Era De Jaguar songs lack a particular structure or pattern. Instead, the music flows freely, unconstrained by conventional expectations, taking the listener on an unpredictable and exciting musical journey. This unpredictability keeps the listener engaged and eagerly anticipating what comes next.
El Era De Jaguar also benefits from its depth of complex instrumentation and devilmanship due to the valuable contributions of guest members, providing the listener’s ears with solos or additional vocal duties. This lineup consists of Chimalma (female vocals on track four), Dionisio Oscuro (solo/acoustic guitar), and Mazatecpatl (Cemican) wind instruments. For the guest guitar solos, split between Tommy Talamanca (Sadist), Mark Biedermann (Blind Illusion), Miguel Slam Tornado (Fusion Bomb), Michael Wehner “Micky” (ex-Vendetta), Achim Daxx(ex-Vendetta), Vakhtango and El Mesías Digital. The guest vocals are split between Miguel Slam Tornado, Marc Grewe (ex-Morgoth), Thomas Zeller (Metal Priests), and Vakhtango (vocal “Cortes”). Each diverse vocal range, tone, and guitar solos add complexity to each song, enriching the overall sound and atmosphere with their unique contributions.
El Era De Jaguar’s musical realm is a testament to exceptionally high production value. It seamlessly combines modern techniques with expert artistry, ensuring that every note and instrument is heard, enhancing the overall listening experience. This level of quality is sure to impress even the most discerning music enthusiast.
If you seek the pulse-pounding fusion of thrash/death and groove metal paired with avant-garde innovation, look no further than Cosmic Jaguar. Prepare for a mesmerizing showcase of technically progressive instrumentation featuring various wood instruments and talented guest members, delivering a genuinely unparalleled offering.
The album ends with the last song, La Noche Triste. We want to thank Cosmic Jaguar for letting us review their album El era del Jaguar. We will conclude the review by discussing the final three sins.
You’re Listening to “God of Sun and War”
PlayThe Last Three Sins
Let’s discuss the last three sins and our thoughts on Cosmic Jaguar and their album, El Era del Jaguar.
The Fifth Sin, The Memorabilia: When Cosmic Jaguar contacted us, I anticipated a mix of thrash and death metal with an Aztec theme. However, we were offered a fruit of art, something more than thrash/death and groove metal, but something different—a fusion of thrash, death, groove, funk, jazz, avant-garde elements, and contributions from several guest musicians. I appreciate that they didn’t just include female vocals or wind instruments for the sake of it; instead, these elements seamlessly blended in with the overall flow of the music and were highlighted at just the right moments, never overshadowed or ignored.
Ultimately, We found El Era De Jaguar to be an enjoyable and lively release that felt fresh and vibrant.
The Sixth Sin, The Artwork:
The artwork captures the bands “Aztec” music and mythology
The Seventh Sin, Disrelish:
Nothing to disrelish within the musical spectrum of Cosmic Jaguar and their album El era del Jaguar.
This concludes the Cosmic Jaguar, El era del Jaguar review.
Track-Listing:
- God of Sun and War
- The Eight Lord of the Nights
- Solar Logos
- Ashes in Eyes
- Obsidian Mirror
- Decapitated Lunar Goddess
- The Shorn Ones
- La Noche Triste
Cosmic Jaguar is:
- Sergio Lunático – vocals, bass
Pablo “el Sicario” – rhythm guitars, acoustic guitar
Juan Maestro – lead guitars, keyboards
Alejo Bárbaro – drums, percussion
Band/Artist Links:
