Kraken: Todo Hombre Es Una Historia/Muere Libre

Review

In the early days of seriously chasing after records for the collection, I never even heard of the 7" singles by the legendary Kraken from Colombia. The years pass and somehow the info turns up and I put the titles on my wantslist, just so I don't lose the information. Even more years pass and not a hint of these singles, ever. Are they real or just fake info that sometimes turns up amongst collectors lists? No one has them and almost no one has even heard of them. Well early this year my luck changed. I finally got this and the bands 2nd single from '87. They both appear to be some sort of radio station promo, never in picture sleeve and with the house label of CoDiscos, probably the one state label in this country. These could very well be the same versions as are on the Kraken "I" lp, but since they are cut at 45rpm they sound a bit different than on the lp, but i don't really know. "Todo Hombre Es Una Historia" = Every Man's a Story "Muere Libre" =die Free Well, what about the music? What we have here are 2 tracks of absolutely top class traditional 80's metal, so surprising that a band sounds like this in 1986. Really, this could have been recorded around '80-'81, there is no way to tell it wasn't. Ripping leads and fairly primitive production make the music shine. Exacly the kind of record that I hunt for continuously and sometimes the search proves to be very rewarding at the end of day. This single has a really amazing early NWOBHM vibe. The b-side evokes a bit of the UK Kraken 7" ala Deadmans Dreamland" with a bit of keys in there amongst the smoking guitar. But even this comparison does not do the music justice. I had been told that even though Kraken are full-on tried and true classic metal from the first lp, that both songs are all about politics. They have the same kind of lyrical content that you might find in a hardcore punk band, even I can pick out words like "oppression" amongst the singing. And this really makes sense in a country that has such a bad reputation around the world for violence and civil strife. But the beauty is, since it is all Spanish, they could be singing about anything, but it sure the hell has the spirit we all search for, fist pounding metal and guitar solo bliss. FIGHT TO THE END I say! If you want to hear these tracks, they are on the cd of Kraken "I + II", but the cd sounds a bit muddy, I think the label maybe went overboard on the noise reduction (It sounds like it is mastered from the vinyl and all the high end is filtered out) so keep the eyes peeled for the real vinyl. the hunt continues because the band also has at least one 12" single too.....

Tracks
Todo Hombre Es Una Historia
Muere Libre