Naxzgul Rising

It's really too bad that Mexico's Ravager immediately broke up after the release of their second album, 2004's Naxzgul Rising (a title splicing the bad guys from The Lord of the Rings with Aztec mythology, perhaps?), since it's actually quite good. Honestly, with the exception of Brazil's positively decapitating Krisiun, fast, brutal, South American death metal doesn't get any more, uh, fast and brutal. For that sort of savagery and more, the likes of "Through Honor and Fury," "Of Fire Revealed," and the spectacularly titled "Nuclear Vomiting Warcraft" clearly speak for themselves. But that's not to say that Ravager are entirely one-dimensional. In fact, they throw in regular change-ups to spice up the sadistic levels of guitar-riffing and drum-pounding imparted by standouts like "Hades Rise," "Foretold," and "Crest Fallen of Divinity." "In the Depths" is another highlight that benefits from a quieter mid-section before exploding into wrath yet again, and, for a career-capping closer, "Forth to Naxzgul" rudely disposes of Ravager's blasted, charred remains in a fitting plunge into smoking ruin. As, surely, they intended. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia