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Spain's Nigromante play the "dirty Rock 'n' Metal" style pioneered by Motörhead and carried on by the NWOBHM and some of the Punk-influenced bands that came out of the United States back in the 80s. Crunchy guitars pummel your eardrums with grimy riffing while the lead work is a wild slash to the throat from a first-time killer. The vocals are an angry bark that is far more concerned with raw emotion than things like melody or timing. Nigromante's style isn't new and most of the songs on Black Magic Night, the band's debut album, are unoriginal but there are a few instances where they borrow more liberally from the past. This is most apparent on "Syndicate of Crime," which features a riff on the bridge that sounds an awful lot like "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath," and bass lines that are similar to the "Theme from Peter Gunn."

If sounding like the past or being unoriginal were crimes, a lot of bands today would be fugitives from justice and Nigromante are hardly the worst of offenders. They make up for their songwriting shortcomings by playing with a lot of energy and attitude. There are bands that do this better, so this isn't an essential release, but in my world, there can't be enough of this kind of Metal. Listening to Black Magic Night may not be a revelation but it is fun.