Pacto de Sangre - Alerta (independent) 2004
1. "Alerta" [intro]
(5:46)
2. "Holy Ghose" (4:44)
3. "Verde a Predicar" (6:23)
4. "Cae, CAE" (4:12)
5. "De Verdad" (3:31)
6. "Amén" (6:40)
7. "Arrepiéntete" (3:09)
8. "La Le de Dios" (5:29)
9. "Warning [English verion of "Alerta"] (5:08)
Pacto de Sangre are a Christian metal band from Puerto Rico. To describe this band as heavy metal is probably the best description that I could come up with. Of course there are many sub-genres within the heavy metal genre and Pacto de Sangre incorporate many influences from within these sub-genres. A little more than half this CD I would describe as power metal with high, clean vocals and galloping guitar riffs. "Alert" starts off with the title track which is a perfect example. Vocalist Metaloman has a good voice for this sort of music, although I must confess that his accent and the Spanish lyrics come off as a bit odd to my American ears. "Holy Ghost" continues in a similar style, adding a bit more aggression and intensity. There is even a growly vocal in the introduction of the song. "Verde a Predicar" starts off as a mellow, piano and guitar-led ballad but breaks into a slightly more upbeat rocker towards the end of the song. Some ballads sound very cheesy to me, but I really liked this song. "CAE, CAE" is a full throttle thrash metal song complete with quick downbeats, chunky guitar riffs and thrashy, throaty vocals. I am not positive, but I am pretty sure this is a completely different vocalist. "De Verdad" returns to a more mid-paced, melodic heavy metal sound. Personally I think this is where the band excels. Metaloman sounds particularly good here and hits the high notes without sounding strained. "Amén" slows things down again. This track I would describe as a power ballad. Personally, I think that "Verde a Predicar" is the better of the two ballads. The spoken word part in the middle of "Amén" comes off as a bit odd to me. It almost sounds like Metaloman is preaching right in the middle of the song. The band once again revisits the thrash metal sound with "Arrepiéntete". As with "CAE, CAE", the vocals are of the gravely, thrash variety and are much different than the rest of the tracks on this CD. "La Le de Dios" continue with the faster, thrash inspired heavy metal. I would describe this song as speed metal. However, this time around both vocal styles are used. I actually think this works really well for the band and I hope in the future they will give us more material like this song. The CD finishes off with an English version of the title track. Overall this is a pretty strong power metal CD, with a good bit of diversity. The diversity is quite welcome as many power metal bands tend to stick too closely to the same old formula and get boring. That is not the case here at all. Even the production isn't band for an independently recorded, low budget CD. Pacto de Sangre have left me impressed. I really hope they will release more material in the style of "La Le de Dios".