Loud Park gig report: Brujeria
International Latino death-grind metal band Brujeria finally made it to Japan with their mayhem of an energy-packed show.
In the afternoon of Saturday 14th October, many extreme music fans start to gather in front of the Big Rock Stage of the Loud Park festival to witness a historical moment; a time many of us have been waiting for too long. We are about to see the Mexican grindcore masters Brujeria playing in Japan for the very first time in 28 years of activity. I personally thought that I would have to cross the ocean to see them destroying some Latin American country someday. Thus this was definitely one of the shows I wanted to see the most at Loud Park.
As the intro of “Brujerizmo” starts playing over the loudspeakers, guitarist Anton Reisenegger comes to the stage and starts interacting with the crowd before slaying their ears with his riffs. Vocalists Juan Brujo and Fantasma then show up. A huge circle pit forms in the middle of the audience and the destruction begins.
I never thought a band singing in Spanish could be so popular among Japanese metalheads, but as the gig progresses, people get more and more into the show. When the band plays an old classic like “Colas de Rata”, insanity takes control of the Loud Park family.
What I love the most about Brujeria’s live show is that they speak in Spanish with their audience most of the time and call their fans “cabrones”, no matter where they are playing. While Fantasma presents new songs, like “Viva Presidente Trump”, in English, Juan Brujo only interacts in Spanish during the performance. The audience is so excited during the gig that even though many of them do not understand a word of what is being said, they respond very well. Brujeria’s set rolls on with more classics, such as “Anti-Castro” and the amazing “Marcha de Odio”, a brutal, old-school song that every Brujeria fan considers an anthem.
Most of Brujeria’s songs are about politics, but there are also some about drugs. Juan Brujo directs his fellow band members with his microphone as the guitar riffs of Reisenegger and Shane Embury make a perfect marriage with Nicholas Barker’s drumming in “Consejos Narcos” and “La Ley de Plomo”.
To finish this outstanding performance, the band chooses to play “Matando Gueros”, one of their best known songs and also one of the heavier ones. With a captivating chorus, everybody in the audience screams along as Saitama turns into a little part of Mexico. With Brujeria’s first Japan gig a great success, we can expect them to come back to Japan in the not too distant future.
