1186
Histeria
self-released
A certain degree of slapdash presentation is often part of the charm of a lot of the deathrock which comes across our desks; as with any sub-genre with any connection to punk, too much polish or overwrought presentation can spoil the whole affair. That looseness can also easily lead to laziness or poor quality control, though, with the fly-by-night nature of a large number of bands flooding Bandcamp with demos which should have remained in-house. The debut by Bogotá’s 1186 is the exception to all of these trends, delivering a tight and furious listen which links the most driving strain of deathrock to its neighbouring genres with panache.
Whether due to the pandemic or other unstated issues, it’s been five years since the Columbian quartet formed, and Histeria has only seen release in the last couple of weeks. Most deathrock bands don’t exist for five years, let alone wait that long to record, meaning that 1186 were operating as a tight and well-oiled machine by the time these eight tracks were laid down. From its bright and chiming guitar leads to rock solid drumming to the fatalistic vocals being barked out, Histeria is executed with precision and purpose across its twenty minutes.
Stylistically, the band’s roots in more traditionally street-punk and hardcore acts like Ataque Zero and Trampa are apparent from the get go, but tracks like “Fracaso Molecular” draw upon west coast death rock and early UK peace punk. Hell, even the guitar solos crammed into the bridges of tracks like “Hoy” speak to this hybridized heritage, connoting d-beat, crossover thrash, and first wave goth rock. Without ever letting the pace drop, 1186 find ways of carrying the mood and gothic atmospherics of deathrock through each of these territories.
Like the earliest records by Belgrado and Spectres, Histeria does a fantastic job of zeroing in on what makes deathrock different from either original punk or pure goth, and makes that sense of swaggering doom its focus. But despite its real affinity for the roots of the genre, it never feels like a joyless exercise in neo-traditionalism, and its omnivorous approach to other genres and traditions emerges as one of the most invigorating and refreshing dark rock records you’ll hear this year. Recommended.
