The third studio long-player from the Southern California-based hardcore unit, the Southern Lord-issued
Tierra y Libertad doubles down on
Xibalba's penchant for pairing Gatling gun shredding and guttural blasts of phlegm with beefy deathcore breakdowns, resulting in something that slightly resembles vintage L.A. punk-addled crossover metal that's been run through the meat grinder a few times. Faster and cockier than 2012's
Hasta La Muerte, but no less punishing,
Xibalba go deeper into death metal this time around, offering up a blistering, beatdown-heavy 11-track set that invokes names like
Napalm Death,
Morbid Angel,
Nails, and
Bolt Thrower. Shot through with a nervy metalcore sheen,
Tierra y Libertad is at its best when it's about to go off the rails, and standout cuts like "Guerrilla," "Enimigo," and the savage title track go straight for the jugular, stacking thick, palm-muted riffage and apocalyptic gang vocals against a feeding frenzy of precision double-kick drumming. Luckily,
Xibalba prefer brevity in the face of such violence, and with the exception of the epic, doom-crusted closer "El Vacío," the listener is rarely subjected to a shellacking that lasts more than four or five minutes. [
Tierra y Libertad was also released on LP.] ~ James Christopher Monger