Album Review: Rito Verdugo, Kamikaze Boom
Between scorched-earth boogie and classic heavy rock, just the tiniest undercurrent of sludge-punk impulse, and South American folk-prog — and that’s just on “Ritual por la Eternidad” — Rito Verdugo‘s second full-length, Kamikaze Boom, lives up to its title when it comes to intensity. Much of the eight-song/34-minute Necio Records long-player finds the Peruvian four-piece bashing away with speed and impressive control, following their four-song 2020 EP, Post-Primatus (review here), and 2018’s Cosmos long-player with a collection that’s no less about breadth than rush when taken in balance.
Songs like the opener “El Despertar,” “Apocalyptus” and the later “Viento Divino” careen around deceptively thick riffing, the middle of them head-spinning in the vein of modern prog metal, but as the title-track departs its sprint in favor of a jazzier buildup, twists and turns with purpose while helping to build the momentum that carries Rito Verdugo from one end of the outing to the other, it is brash in the doing but backed by enough chops in terms of technique to pull it off. They’re the kind of band other bands watch on stage and either hate or admit to being impressed by.
Comprised of guitarists Rodrigo Chávez (also vocals) and Alvaro Gonzales del Valle, bassist Carlos del Castillo and drummer Luis Rodríguez, they aren’t rushed so much in the execution — that is, the album doesn’t sound cheap or unconsidered — but in the tempos of the material itself, they play heavy and they play fast. Particularly coming after the EP, which was made during covid lockdown, it is a full-sounding, linear listening experience. Each song will leave individual bruises, sure, but the album is meant to be taken as a whole, front to back, as presented.
And realizing that underscores the intention behind the entire affair, which in combination with the roughness of some of the fuzz — as “El Despertar” bulls in the china shop of riff rock at the start of the record, it does so with a tonal thickness and character that wouldn’t have been out of place coming from mid-’90s C.O.C. — and while Peru and greater South America generally have a rich history of heavy and underground music scenes, doom, stoner, psych, garage and the like, Rito Verdugo seem to be going too fast to care one way or the other about where they fit stylistically. That suits the songs well too, as “Kamikaze Boom” almost can’t help take some influence from surf in its lead guitar spacing out circa three minutes — just before the break — and noodling in that break with vocals overtop like ‘here’s this peaceful moment isn’t it nice’ with only the drums foretelling the slam back to speed that’s about to take place.
The title-track and others benefit widely from what comes through as a relatively open creative process, not just to weirdo sounds outside the heavy norm — there actually isn’t a lot of experimentalism as regards arrangements; guitars, bass, drums, vocals; there aren’t even keyboards — but to exploring where a given part actually wants to go, as in the galloping verse of “Ataque Shimpu,” with the falsetto vocal from Chávez like his voice is trying to dance on top of the angular progression it’s topping. Fuzzy, hooky, all-go, “Ataque Shimpu” picks up from the still-rousing but slower “Apocalyptus,” which puts the vocals forward in its first half amid dizzying turns that would make The Atomic Bitchwax proud and ends with a crash sample that might be from Contra or something else of the 8-bit era, maybe Atari rather than NES. I don’t know, but that brief split lets “Ataque Shimpu” begin its shuffle with a clear head and chorus push, fading at its conclusion into “Ritual por la Eternidad,” which is the longest inclusion at 5:36, the fifth of eight tracks, and the first time Rito Verdugo genuinely slow down on the record.
Airy notes of guitar strum out beneath an initial layered verse, the nod rising in volume behind as the open verse solidifies into the chorus — in Spanish like the rest but easier to follow when it’s slower — turning back to make a melodic highlight of the second verse before a shout marks the transition into the gallop that takes hold for the remainder of the track. It was not quite half a song, then, that the speed was set aside. It’s not much, but it’s enough to call it dynamic, especially — again — when taking on the album in its entirety. “Viento Divino” breezes in with hints of NWOBHM in its guitar intro that stretches into a nod before sprawling out echoing layers of verse lyrics, bursting, bouncing and pivoting to a degree that must have been overwhelming even in the making since they shift into a quieter midsection before the shout-topped onslaught in the second half leads to the quiet finish, which feels long on a song that’s under four minutes, but is important in what it brings to the atmosphere of Kamikaze Boom, so much emphasis otherwise placed on the explosiveness of the songs.
To wit, the penultimate “Vagabundo” answers “Viento Divino” with gusto and full fuzz, nestling into a comfortable groove that on many albums would still count as fast, and injecting a bit more fun into the proceedings ahead of the bikerism that closes with “Aplastando a las Ratas,” one last barnburner to get the point across that Rito Verdugo really hate that barn. Where “Vagabundo” had shades of cosmic acceleration commonly attributed to an influence from Slift or King Gizzard, the finale makes that charge more terrestrial, building up to its speed-at-night verse riff with classic metal poise and riding that riff headfirst (helmet on; please listen responsibly) into a section of last solo shred that caps with a sudden stop.
Because I guess when you’ve torn ass around for the last half-hour plus, maybe the big rock finish becomes superfluous. Fair enough as Rito Verdugo leave nothing unsaid or wanting by the time they’re done, letting the physicality of spirit of their work stand for itself. Which it does. And then it runs around in circles for a few minutes — purposefully, mind you — because it needs the sensory engagement. They’re not speed rock, that’s a different thing. But speed is a major asset across Kamikaze Boom, and put to riotous use.
