So, after spending a week in Germany, here we are in sunny Spain. I know a few Spanish bands, but I'm going to try to develop my knowledge further as to what this country has to offer, and I want to start my look at Spanish metal with a rather obvious choice, though to be honest they're a band who, though I know of them, as everyone does, I have never heard any of their music. But they've been around for a long time, and I think may be one of the oldest metal bands in Spain. They've certainly been around longer than most.
Volumen brutal --- Barón Rojo --- 1982
The story of Baron Rojo seems to be one of infighting and those ever-present “musical differences”. Unhappy with their original band's direction in a more pop vein, brothers Armando and Costas de Castro formed Baron Rojo, but to piss off the others in the band they had left they initially called their new outfit by the same name, Coz, until legal injunctions prevailed and they had to change the name. Playing with such luminaries as Iron Maiden, Golden Earring and Twisted Sister, they fragmented in 1989, with bassist José Luis Campuzano “Sherpa” and drummer Hermes Calabria leaving the band and setting up their own version of Barón Rojo, leading to the confusing situation of there being two Barón Rojos touring and recording, as the two de Castro brothers continued on with their version of the band.
However, all that was in the future and “Volumen brutal”, the second album from the classic lineup was to be their breakthrough album, due in no small part to their appearance at the Reading Festival, at the time one of the biggest rock festivals in the UK, and also to the assistance of Bruce Dickinson, who helped them translate their lyrics in order to be able to issue an English version of the album. This of course meant that “Volumen brutal” (need a translation?)
sold in much greater numbers than it would have had if it had been only sung in their native Spanish. Their label, however, would later dig its heels in and refuse to allow them out of their contract, scotching a deal with EMI that would have brought the Spanish metallers to the next level. As a result, Barón Rojo remain largely unknown outside of Spain.
I've managed to come across both the English and Spanish versions on Spotify, but to try to get the full Barón Rojo experience I've decided to go with the Spanish version. “Incomunicación” starts us off (English: “isolation ward”) and it's a hard fast rocker from the off, with the obvious comparisons to Maiden and Saxon, and perhaps a drop of glam metal icons The Sweet thrown in. Great guitar work from both the brothers de Castro (no way to know who is playing solo) and thumping, raucous drumming from Hermes Calabria. A big heavy finish takes us into “Los rockeros van al Infienro” (Rockers go to Hell --- strange thing to write about but anyway) with a somewhat slower beat but still heavy and the vocal from bassman Sherpa. Seems Barón Rojo switch, or switched their vocalists around; Carlos sang the opener, and Armando will sing the penultimate track. This has a nice hard rock feel about it with screeching guitars but sort of more rock than metal, then a boogie beat suffuses “Dame la opportunidad” (Give me the chance) again a slower song that swaggers along with a sense of Lizzy in the double guitar attack. Carlos is back behind the mike for this one.
I'm happy to take the translations offered from the Wiki page, to a point, and I'll tell you why later. But I would have thought (wrongly) this meant “Lady fortune”, which just shows how much Spanish I know. Still... Anyway, great solo here and Sherpa takes the vocal for “Son comos hormigas”. Great rock and roll track with sprightly upbeat guitar, but here is where I begin to take issue with the translations offered. It's supposed to be “termites”, but first of all there are three words, and I know “como” is “how” or “as” or something, so I don't see how it can be one word in English. Unexpected blast of sax comes in from the famous Mel Collins, and then a great guitar solo takes the song towards its conclusion.
“Las flores del mal” (Flowers of evil, even I knew that) is the most metal track so far, but it's really (and I mean really) close to a slowed-down version of Maiden's “Prowler”. It rocks along on a sort of three-chord boogie with great energy and purpose, easily my favourite on the album so far, Maiden comparisons notwithstanding. Another Carlos-driven effort, it's followed by “Resistiré” (Stand up), a great rocker with a pretty weird start that sounds like horns. Hmm. Then it powers up and just flies along, very catchy to be fair. Could have been a single. Sweet guitar solo, the kind you just expect to hear in the best metal, but often don't, then the next one up has a lot of old blues in it, but the translation problem rears its head again. Spanish title “Satánico plan (Volumen brutal)”, so essentially the title track, but the English translation would have you believe it's called “Someone's loving you”. What? I can only assume that some of the titles were changed when they were translated into English, for whatever reason. I read this as “Satan's plan (which may of course not be right, but “Volumen brutal” could hardly be anything else than brutal volume, could it?) Great vocal harmonies in this by the way, reminds me of, of all bands, Kansas!
There's a guest slot for ex-Gillan keyboards man and later film soundtrack composer Colin Towns on “Concierto por ellos” (Concert for them) and it really adds something to the song. Pity in a way they didn't have keys all through the album. Nevertheless, the brothers de Costa are unlikely to take a backseat, and there's plenty of fret action through the song too. “Hermano del rock and roll” is without question “Brothers of, or in, rock and roll”, but again someone would have you believe it translates to “You're telling me”. WTF? Anyway, it's a big hard, marching, punching rocker with slamming bass and ironclad drumming, the guitars working their magic on a song that betrays a certain flavour of AOR at times. It's also the only song on the album in which Armando gets to shine behind the mike, but to be perfectly fair to the band, it really doesn't matter who's singing, as all three are very good and you don't really notice any appreciable difference.
We close with “El Barón vuela sobre Inglaterra”, which at least correctly translates as “The Baron flies over England”, and I guess in a way that might be seen as their signature song? It's a blindingly fast, Maiden/Metallica influenced speed rocker (yes I know Metallica were only coming up at this time, but you know...) with one of the best guitar attacks on the album, and again the old Maiden thing pops up again. It's a great rocking instrumental to polish off the album, and surely went down a storm onstage.
TRACKLISTING
1. Incomunicación
2. Los Rockeros van al Infierno
3. Dame la oportunidad
4. Son como hormigas
5. Las flores del mal
6. Resistiré
7. Satánico plan (Volumen brutal)
8. Concierto para ellos
9. Hermano del Rock & Roll
10. El Barón vuela sobre Inglaterra
You can see why Barón Rojo have such respect in the metal community. At a time when really there was little or no metal coming out of the Iberian Peninsula, these four guys flew the flag --- possibly literally --- for heavy music in their native country, and with the help of one of the architects of the NWOBHM they became a force to be reckoned with, and people began to see that Spain was more than just a place to go for your holidays. In the end, as I mentioned, infighting tore the band apart and they split into two separate incarnations, each claiming to be the original. However in 2012 the four original members of the band did reunite for a rock festival im Barcelona. No news of their reforming the classic lineup is to hand though.
But in a time when to be a metal band --- or at least, a successful one --- really meant singing in English if you could, Barón Rojo bucked the trend and, though they did issue this album bilingually, their others were all in Spanish, and fans still bought them. If their label had let them out of their contract instead of selfishly and short-sightedly holding them back when the Big Name came knocking, who knows what they might have achieved?
Even at that, they put Spain on the metal map and laid the groundwork for all the bands who were to follow in their footsteps, some of whom we will be featuring in the next few days. For that at the very least they deserve our thanks. Well done senors, or as Basil Fawlty once remarked, “Oh, Arriba!”