Morto Kacho - Morto Kacho (2007) (7/10)

When people hear about Curaçao, most of them think of the famous liqueur flavored with the dried peel of the laraha fruit and not of the island in the Carribean Sea next to the Venezuelan Coast where this fruit grows. When you think about the culture of the small country, exotic food made of seafood, indigenous rites and rhythmic dances to Latin-American music may come to your mind. But as you might guess by now, the globalization of Metal music doesn’t even stop in front of this polyglot country.

The country’s only known metal band to date is the Death Metal band MORTO KACHO from the colorful capital Willemstad. Formed in 2005, the band released its only self-titled record to date back in 2007 and they are still active these days. MORTO KACHO is not only an interesting band due to their exotic origins. The four young men sing in their native language called “Papiamentu” which happens to be a mixture of Dutch, Portuguese, Spanish and French. Let’s also take a look on the cover artwork. It’s simple and might be tasteless for some people but I thought it was a rather cool idea. It’s definitely more original than a disgusting Grindcore cover artwork or another Death Metal cover with skulls and zombies on it that similar bands tend to employ.

Musically, the band also tries out a few original things. Several songs on the short and entertaining album include spoken word passages that seem to be taken from political speeches or movie samples for example. Musically, the band convinces with a mixture of traditional Death Metal as well as a few Thrash and Speed Metal elements without forgetting about a few fresh experiments from time to time.

Let’s cite a few surprising examples. “Tula” comes around with a few traditional folk elements towards the end that seem to be recorded from a radio show or something similar. “Violashon” opens and closes with what seem to be a few Dutch spoken word passages performed by a woman. Maybe it’s me but I also feel like hearing some orgasmic noises by a woman somewhere in the background of this weird track. If I only understood the lyrics I could probably tell you more about this. Songs like the pitiless “Almanan Perdi” that though opens with a Caribbean Folk driven percussion section and the short AGGRESSIVE SOLUTION cover “F-27” are rather Thrash and Speed Metal driven and even include some Hardcore influences. Don’t ask me who this band is that MORTO KACHO covers because I have never heard of them before.

The weirdest stuff comes last on this release. The band song “Morto Kacho” is not only by far the longest song on the album but also the most diversified track. The blistering track seems to start in a rather dull way but it reserves us atmospheric spoken word passages, a few truly insane guitar solos as well as very dystopian and mechanical guitar sounds like I have never heard before. This track is the definite highlight on the album. As a little bonus, the band included a remix of their opener “Wega Di Droga” that reminds me of the latest MORBID ANGEL remixes with their controversial electronic influences. I happen to like this style but I’m aware of the fact that most metal fans might disagree with me and would probably also dislike this surprising bonus track.

In the end, MORTO KACHO is a quite eclectic Extreme Metal band with some potential apart of their exotic origins that might be appealing to some collectors. Their first record is maybe too short to draw any concrete conclusions but I would definitely keep an eye on this band and hope that Curaçao’s pioneer metal band carries on. Fans of bands such as CANNIBAL CORPSE, CARCASS, MORBID ANGEL, OBITUARY and SLAYER should give this release a fair try. Maybe this is your only chance in your life to discover a Metal band from Curaçao anyway, so don’t hesitate to check this out.

(Online October 25, 2013)