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Hadez are legends in their native Peru, and it's easy to see why by this, their classic debut release. Not only were they one of the first extreme metal bands to form in the country, but they were the first Peruvian extreme metal band to release a full length album. Forming around the time of the explosion of South American scene that forged such incredible genre-defining acts as Sarcofago, Sepultura and Holocausto, Hadez shone equally as bright as the any of the Cogumelo bands, without being so widely lauded at the time.

This album exudes sin and evil in various ways, not only in the music, but in the unwholesome atmospheric interludes that are spattered amongst a few of the songs. The guitar tone sounds like a diamond cutter slicing through sheet metal (you can almost imagine the sparks flying from the plectrum upon each note played), which is further enhanced by the old school production. The flailing solos squeal and widdle their way out like early Morbid Angel, wailing and screeching with the best of them, while the drums are varied, ranging from being frenziedly battered at super-sonic speeds, to adding an extra dimension to the slower sections by working with the riffs rather than against them. The thing that most impresses me about Hadez on this album, is the fact that they certainly knew how to put the 'Diabolus in Musica' tritone effect to the greatest usage, albeit in the most simplest of ways, making the album brim with satanic wickedness with the greatest of ease. Pure old school blackened death metal has never sounded so good, or so natural for that matter. Hadez went on to release a second album several years later after splitting and reforming, but it never had the same vibe to it as this album, and was generally battered by the musical press, causing them to again split after its release.

So, if you're looking for your old school South American black/death fix for the month, and you've yet to stumble across Hadez, search no further than 'Aquelarre'.