Reviews

Cursed Blessings

Maldita Maldita LP

MALDITA is a four-piece from Toronto, and this is the group’s first LP of raw, metal-tinged street punk with vocals sung in Spanish by Rosa Venerosa. Throughout the record, the themes stick to politics and the chaos surrounding them, all whilst being dispatched with an intense and annihilating intonation. There is the low-hanging fruit of ESKORBUTO to compare the band to, as well as some metal-tinged ANTI CIMEX sound brought to mind. The opening track “Trabajo” kills. The production is all I want to hear on a record (wiry, drowned vocals, crunchy).  Throughout the LP the band does not let up and pummels through all ten tracks, almost all of them over two minutes each. However, the only minor qualm is the slight repetition with both style and lyrics. To illustrate this I would point to “Todos Muertos,” which was a bit rough to get through, but nothing that takes away from the whole of the record.

Maldita Un Mundo en Demencia cassette

Latina-fronted hardcore from Toronto. These punks have been cranking out aggressive, anarcho-inspired releases since 2018. Their brand of dead-ahead, driving punk has a raw edge that keeps things interesting despite being somewhat repetitive. Their real character cuts through on tracks like “Odio,” where the backing vocals inject an element of the unexpected. I gravitate mostly to the faster tracks like “Perdida” and “Memorias,” but this is sheerly a matter of personal preference. MALDITA pulls from the stripped-down side of UK82, so the quicker tempo amplifies the impact.