‘Odio ala gente, que no sabe odiar, todo el mundo te gusta, y tienes que caer bien a todos, todoes es falso’ (Odio) ‘I hate people who don’t know how to hate, you like everyone, have to be liked by everyone, everything is fake’ (Hate)

Buscando La Muerte (Seeking Death) is the debut full-length from Mallorca’s Puñal (Dagger).  The band are emerging from the shadow of the death of their drummer, Martí (also of Orden Mundial) in 2019, and to whom the album is dedicated.  This had resulted in the band being on hiatus since the release of their demo, Hoya De Nosotros (Run Away From Us).

The band’s burly riffage is rooted in UK82 influences braided through with flares of Southern California melody.  Meanwhile, the rhythm section injects an impressively spry bounce to proceedings that calls to mind the raw vigour of the first waves of Latin American hardcore punk.  The pounding Cicatrices (Scars) and the melodically fired Amor (Love) perfectly capture the dynamic.

Lyrically, the album brims with an intense nihilistic fervour.  The gruff vocals express frustration at the sterility of modern life, frustration at the self-destructive responses that it provokes, and frustration at the co-option of any activity or space that might actually offer respite.  But, perhaps, above all, frustration at those blinded to reality by their misplaced, unseeing optimism.