Label: Self released
Date: June 7th, 2024
Mocs & Cucs is a Spanish, Catalan band that was spawned back in 2010, but has been fairly irregular when it comes to studio outputs. The debut album has been published in 2011 and followed by a series of single tracks which led to an EP in 2020. “Cremem los putos bancs” is the second full length which was preceded by a single in 2022 and the publication of the first single (and lyric video) off this record. Quite sparse, especially given the fact that there aren’t other musical projects the duo from the band’s moniker is currently involved with. At least not according to Metal Archives.
Since I mentioned it above, the moniker consists of surnames of Mr. Milford Mocs and Mr. Gunther Cucs. Since the Catalan translation of the two surnames would be mucus and worms and that would be too much of a coincidence, plus the two names don’t really sound Catalan, I had to check and no, those are not the real names of the musicians involved in Mocs & Cucs. Metal Archives for the win, once again.
However, and I’m slowly diving into the actual review, Metal Archives is not Encyclopedia Britannica and the promise of heavy / power metal, as the band’s genre of choice, is not accurate. Nor was it expected in advance, since the band’s name and the cover artwork suggested something different. Or, at the very least, humorous or otherwise less than serious. When you take into consideration the discography as it sits, it all suggested a band that doesn’t take its craft all that seriously. After spinning it for a good number of times, I still can’t be sure of the intentions of Mocs & Cucs.
So, let me focus on what’s at hand here. “Cremem los putos bancs” is a very versatile record, spanning through a few genres, where the mentioned power and heavy metal are just benchwarmers. Active observers, so to speak. For instance, the album is opened by the title track which is more befitting to Exodus than Iced Earth, to name but the most obvious representative of heavy / power metal. Even a certain crossover feel swerves through the track, but it’s still far from what was promised at Metal Archives. Its successor, “Ets repugnant” is a more fitting example. Though overly a thrasher, the traditional heavy metal aspect of the band manages to find its way through. It’s not until “El candidat”, the fourth song on the album, that Mocs & Cucs finally find the heavy / power metal. The track bears an unmistakable Helloween or Gamma Ray aura, particularly when complemented by the satirical element in the lyrics, which the Germans also weren’t shy in using when needed.
At this point, I would like to invite you to pay attention to the song that comes just before “El candidat”. Concretely, to the stark contrast between the two tracks. If I didn’t know any better, I would never say those are composed by the same band. There’s hardly a link to connect them together. That right there is the biggest fault of “Cremem los putos bancs”. Incoherency that is ever-present and gives an unwelcome element of surprise to the album. As a whole, the album doesn’t work and sort of solves the mystery of why Mocs & Cucs published so many single tracks instead of proper releases.
The twosome in question is not the only example of this heterogeneity. The influences are many and they are thrown here and there, without any sense of compositional unity which a full length album must represent. Thrash metal is the only binding tool which encompasses almost everything. But there’s metalcore in “Pengem el virrei”, not even slightly hidden hint to “This Love” in “Morirem tots!!!”, a power ballad “Astre guía”, melodic death metal acoustics (Dissection) and ska (!!!) in “Flegma i verms”… You got the point, surely.
Now, this is not to say Mocs & Cucs are talentless hacks. Far from it! There are mighty fine songs on “Cremem los putos bancs”, well-worth your time and attention. A number of burning headbangers and a couple that will make you shout along in your bedroom. With a note that these songs are tapped from the same veins as some of the best ever crafted in heavy metal. The biggest problem is that this album doesn’t quite work as an album. Put that aside and there’s a forty plus minutes of enjoyable metal.
