format: LP
year: 1991
country: Argentina
label: Musica & Marketing
#: TD (4) 2407
info: Innersleeve w/ lyrics
style: Heavy Metal, Power Metal
Side A:
Side B:
If I say Argentina 1991 you will all chant "El Dragon! El Dragon!" in unison, but that magnificent album have a more than worthy competitor in VAGO's "El Duelo" from the very same year. What we have here is a little forgotten pearl of top class Power/Heavy Metal. I'm finding it difficult to draw any comparisons to any other South American 80's Metal bands, as their sound is more US Metal-inspired than most of what I've heard from this continent. I guess their closest cousins would be the Uruguay masters and overlords ALVACAST. While not entirely at their level, they share the same attitude towards songwriting, where nothing is left to chance and fillers are strictly banned. You know those albums where you sort of regret you put it on after 15 minutes, because the quality of the tunes keep declining? "El Duelo" is the opposite of that. They surprise with mighy riffs, thunderous rhythms or superb harmoines in each and every song - sometimes all in one tune, like with the mesmerizing title track. Further special mentions go to the minor-scale/'eastern' "Casa De Locos" (bit of an early Fates Warning vibe here), "La Isla" with its epic surprises and the catchy "Espejismos" with its fist-held-high chorus. Even the 2 semi-ballads "No Podras Detenerme" and "Espera Interminable" kick arse, the latter including a simply crushing Sabbath/Pentagram-riffmonster. In short: a very even, hi-quality album that never gets boring.
On the subject of 'boring': Howsabout that sleeve then? Call me nutters but I LIKE it. It has a very d.i.y. / indie / "so, we had this idea right..."-vibe of a band that prefers to do it Their Way, plus it makes my Obscüreness-meter point to 11! Always trust your obscüreness-meter.