‘Somos la evolución? Somos la regreción? Somos la destrucción?…Un dia asesinos, al otro salvadores. El mayor exterminio, la existencia del hombre.’ (Extinción) / ‘Are we evolution? Are we regression? Are we destruction?…One day murderers, the next saviors. Total extermination, the existence of man.’ (Extinction)

Hailing from Lima, Tomar Control (Take Control) have been active for over a decade now, and return here with their third album, Frente Al Miedo (Facing Fear).  Their earliest material was rooted very much in the traditions of 1980s’ US youth crew.  On Frente Al Miedo, Tomar Control’s passionately high-octane delivery remains entirely undimmed, yet their sound continues to incrementally evolve.

Two-step provoking breakdowns and gang choruses remain aplenty, but there is now a notably more pronounced melodicism at play, alongside an increasingly muscular edge.  The band prove equally at home braiding their onslaught with flares of dark melancholy in the vein of Sinking Ships and unleashing metallic-tinged eruptions that call back to early Verse.

The strident Spanish vocals sit notably front and centre of the mix as they explore themes of personal positivity alongside those of environmental collapse and economic exploitation.  Stand-out moments include the contagiously layered vocal climax to the raucous opener Una Vez Más (Once Again), and the tension ratcheting builds of the utterly fierce Extinción (Extinction).