HOCICO MEMORIAS ATRAS ALBUM OUT OF LINE, COP INTL RELEASE: MARCH 4, 2008 REVIEW: APRIL 26, 2008

Break out the meat tenderizer and salt, Hocico have a new record to bludgeon your ears with.

Has the overall sound of the band changed much since their debut back in 1997? No, it has become more refined but remains focused on the dancefloor. They continue to use those classic progressions to denote their home country of Mexico but they remain very simplistic in their compositional style.

Take the opening track "A Fatal Desire"; it has all those Hocico touches, the high key lines... the snarled heavily processed vocals, galloping bassline and steady 4/4 beat. Here's the deal, my fine fellows: Yelworc have returned so you'd best change this style up right now. This really is tired, very worn out dark "electro" music. If one is under the age of 25 or so, they'll eat this up but for those of us who know what devotees of Mr. Devin these two are, it's pretty revolting to have to slog through more thinly veiled theft. Why oh why do they continue to beat this dead horse with the same damned plodding sound.

Hocico have their audience, there can be no question of this, and they give the fans what they want: big fat analogue bass lines, scattershot syncopated staccato melody lines very reminiscent of a Canadian outfit who saw the world through the eyes of a mongrel dog, and nice solid unsurprising rhythms. When these guys first exploded onto the scene there was some novelty for a lot of people due to where they came from. Unlike Artefakto (RIP) however, they have chosen to stay where it's nice and safe. There is no intention from this camp to ever transcend either their sound or their image. If it ain't broke, don't fix it may well be their mantra.

I can't really say much more about this album besides the obvious: they will always be as they are, so rejoice you devotees. These boys are not going anywhere.

PETER MARKS