Hocico - El Ultimo Minuto

Last Updated on Sunday, 30 December 2012 14:06 Written by EvaLantsoght

Artist: Hocico

Album: El Ultimo Minuto

Label: Out of Line

Genre: electro, industrial

The Mexican masters of aggressive electro Hocico have released their 8^th album El Ultimo Minuto (Antes De Que Tu Mundo Caiga). Many bands might be inspired by the apocalypse theories, but few bands would compose a doomsday soundtrack as well as Hocico do.

What can you expect on El Ultimo Minuto? It's 2 CDs, featuring dancefloor-ready top-quality electro-industrial. Hocico have remained true to their style of dark club anthems, refreshed the sound of their first releases, took some inspiration from their side projects Dulce Liquido and Rabia Sorda and added some breakbeats and outer-space sounds.

El Ultimo Minuto, which translates as “the final minute” start with “T.O.S. Of Reality”, and you are immediately welcomed to the other side of reality, which in Hocico's universe can be interpreted as a darker dancefloor. Trance-beats and a house-base smooth the sharp and aggressive sound of Hocico on “Intruder”.

The tempo goes up with “The Watched” into an almost impossible speed, after which “Dead Trust” experiments with distorted folk (Mayan I presume?) sounds. The catchy “Polarity” is followed by “Mundo Impossible”, that opens with a slow, atmospheric and futuristic intro which gradually picks up more elements. It's the perfect resting point before the first single of the album “Vile Whispers”, which is a hit waiting to happen.

“3...2...1...” would be the perfect countdown party-track for the apocalypse. Yet, just as real life keeps going on, El Ultimo Minuto isn't done either. The breakbeating, oriental-sounding “Toxic” is one of the more experimental tracks of the album, after which “Over The Limit” brings the party back one last time. El Ultimo Minuto ends with an almost 7-minute-long spacey outro.

The second CD of El Ultimo Minuto contains the glorious “Surfing In The Plastic Age”, a S.P.O.C.K. meets electro-industrial song. The humorous “Firewalking” borrows from reggae, dubstep, the Middle East and Ravi Shankar. The rest of the second CD are remixes of “Intruder” and “Polarity”.

Hocico have made their name and fame over the past 20 years. With El Ultimo Minuto they once more prove that they indeed are at the top of their genre. Listen to the promo for the first single “Vile Whispers”: