Heavy Doom from southeast Mexico: MALAMADRE

The Mexican underground metal scene is really huge – you can find amazing bands from north to south, from hardcore to power violence, black metal, crust, etc… Although, the Mexican doom scene is, in comparison to other genres, not that well known. It’s not about genres, but I think it’s important to emphasize the diversity of the underground music scene in the streets of México, and that each one has good bands we must listen to.

We’ll start with Malamadre, a band from Yucatán (a city in the south of Mexico). With only three members (Alejandro, Carlos & Ragnar), this band was formed in 2016, in one of the warmest and most quiet states in Mexico. The three bandmates were already in other bands before, experimenting with punk, hardcore, metal, but they ended up reuniting to create slow, stoner doom music. They play with some of the classic features of doom metal, like samples, slow and long songs, but at the same time they complement the songs with the kind of noise and stoner aesthetic that Electric Wizard used to play with.

<a href="http://malamadre666.bandcamp.com/album/s-t">S/T by MALAMADRE</a>

They claim their music is just an integration of things they like and it’s just something that happens in the moment. They have already played in the capital city of Mexico for the anniversary of LSDR Records, among other amazing bands like Vinnum Sabbathi, Saturno Grooves, Sementales Salvajes and Moonwatcher.

I did a quick interview with the guitarist Carlos, and here it is:

Coming from a small city, how did it feel to play in the capital?

To us, it meant a lot because it was totally unexpected, it just happened. I guess we did things ok, and that gave us the opportunity to be part of all of the heavy music that is made in this country. The rest of the bands were so stoked with our music: “How is it possible that you make hard music coming from one of the most quiet cities in Mexico?”

What are some of your most important influences?

Cyclical and repetitive music, like Bongripper, Sleep, Bong and old funeral doom.

The artwork is amazing. Did you work it together?

The artwork has a funny story. It was very well designed, and people think it’s a very deep thing but it is actually all the opposite. It was only as a result of a brainstorm, and we only wanted it to have weed. We tried so many things with weed: a shark with weed, a planet made of weed and then a wizard with weed, and that was the result. I have always felt comfortable with Alejandro, I think our ideas get on very well, and he has a lot of talent.

What do you think about the Mexican metal music scene?

It’s a scene in constant growth, there’s a lot of people participating in different ways with bands, collectives, independent record companies, etc. I think it’s important to emphasize that, because of that union between bands and collectives, so many important things have transcended. The quality of the bands is undeniable, there’s so much to listen to.