It’s not often you hear of Peruvian doom bands, so El Hijo De La Aurora (The Son of Dawn) are certainly unique in that sense. Unfortunately for the trio’s third release, ‘The Enigma of Evil’, that’s where the inimitability ends. Touted as “experimental” there is certainly nothing experimental about them and they sound much like every other band playing the same tired out rehashed riffs for the same group of boring stoner pigs who will no doubt lap it up with enthusiasm.
The lyrics are sung in the band’s mother tongue and cover topics such as philosophy, occultism, witchcraft, esotericism and spirituality; same subject matter as every other band jamming the same stuff, just in a different language. Hailing from the balmy and secluded climes of Peru may mean El Hijo aren’t aware of the current oversaturation of this type of music, and so can’t be faulted for producing a record that sounds the same as dozens of other bands, however, given this is the glorious age of the internet, that’s highly unlikely and these guys have probably just decided to cash in on a growing trend and play easy riffs, getting money for old rope. This current resurgence is one that seriously needs to die, as it’s boring and getting increasingly more difficult to find doom bands that actually have something interesting to offer amid the sea of rewrites of ‘Dagonaut’ and ‘Sweet Leaf’.
These guys seem to have had a half-hearted stab at being original – the inclusion of Tibetan bowls and gongs adds the occasional edge to the vintage 70s amp worship, but they’re sounds that don’t really hang around long enough to make much of a difference. There’s even an attempt at intelligent song writing, with themes surrounding Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s books ‘Isis Unveiled’ and ‘The Secret Doctrine’ – this is bogged down, however, by chugging guitars and bass. So, here we have another band that will no doubt capture a fleeting interest from people who genuinely enjoyed Black Sabbath’s ‘13’ before vanishing into obscurity.
(3/10 Angela Davey)
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