‘Estamos condenados a los gritos perdidos, el camino oculto al pasado oscuro, como los trenes atraviesan las ciudades, y huye la gente de todas sus verdades’ (Ataque Sistemático) ‘We are condemned to lost screams, the hidden path to the dark past, as trains cross the cities, and people flee from all their truths’ (Systematic Attack)

Hailing from Bogota, 1186 have emerged from the city’s Rat Trap punk collective, which incubated the likes of Muro, Alamabrada, and Ataque Zero.  Indeed, the band share their vocalist with the latter, as well as building their sound around a similar kernel of darkly melodic hardcore punk on this their debut release, Histeria (Hysteria).

1186 then skilfully amplify these melancholic inclinations, conjuring a darkly gothic atmosphere that draws in equal measure on both death rock and anarcho-punk sensibilities.  The cymbal awash rhythm section locks in with vigorous precision, while the powerful clean sung Spanish vocals are utterly disconsolate as they explore an inescapable sense of society’s systemic failure through tales of grinding day-to-day slow violence, prison riots, and environmental degradation.

The key to Histeria’s enticing aura though lies in the inherently mournful yet undeniably vibrant guitar.  The unfurling melodies are darkly captivating, the wildly inventive solos even more so.  Personal highlights are, perhaps, the surging Ataque Sistemático, the frenetically escalating Hoy (Today), and the dramatically see-sawing Encerrados (Locked).