“Aftermath”: Zafakón Expand on Sounds That Already Make Them Great & Reflect on Current Themes3/25/2022 After releasing a couple of albums in the mid 2010s, Zafakón became one of the faces of the heavy metal scene in Puerto Rico. But, as far as releasing music, after 2016 the band stayed relatively quiet except in 2020 where they released a single in the form of “Quieren Fuego”, a tune that found them reflecting on the recent major political events connected to the island. However, 2022 finds the band kicking things into gear as they start off the year with their latest project Aftermath. Aftermath begins with its title track, a blend of heavy, thrash and melodic death metal that shows the band displaying some apocalyptic storytelling elements in a tune that finds a bit of inspiration on the current pandemic. Afterwards, “Cancer of the Mind”, a thrash metal mosh pit that reflects on the current state of information distribution. Next, “Another Night Survived” finds the group touching on the topics grief, death, and suicide in a track the presents some heavy metal, blues, and melodic death metal influences. The first half of the project closes with “Burning Black”, a song that finds the ensemble reflecting on what could be a variety of subjects such as fighting for one’s dreams, the passing of time, and failure. The second part of Aftermath kicks off with “Apotheosis”, a thrash metal display where the band explores the topic of the song’s title along with religion, spirituality and, possibly, the way we blindly worship celebrities in a tale that could almost be described as Lovecraftian. This is followed by “The Revenant”, a melodic death metal track that finds the group reflecting on death and addiction as well as the subject of endless learning and how today we find ourselves addicted to constantly gathering information. Subsequently, “Ink Ribbon” is a laid-back instrumental that feels like music that could serve well in a movie or video game. Finally, “The Pale” closes Zafakón’s third album as they explore existential territory in a track that perfectly encapsulates many of the project’s themes and sounds.
In sum, Zafakón’s Aftermath is a project that presents the band as strong as ever as they continue to show their mastery over the craft while also providing an album that could be seen as individual songs or a loose story influenced by horror, sci-fi, apocalyptic fiction, the current pandemic, and their own experiences.
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AuthorFernando E. E. Correa González is the author behind over 30 self-published poetry books. He has been published by literary magazines & journals [Id]entidad, El Vicio del Tintero, Sábanas Magazine, Smaeralit, The Occulum, Tonguas and Hound Magazine. Other than writing, Correa is also the host of FENCast, a podcast dedicated to documenting the Puerto Rican independent art scene. Aside from this, he experiments with filmmaking, photography, drawing, painting, multimedia and transmedia. He currently lives in his native Puerto Rico. Archives
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