By Colette Claire
October 22, 2023
Siglos’ live show almost didn’t fit into the Garden Amphitheater on Sunday Oct 15th 2023. Their tightness as a band, as well as their ritualistic theatrics, atmospheric blend of black metal meets industrial, and larger than life stage presence, could hardly be contained on a warm afternoon in Southern California at the Gates of Metal III festival.
Metal heads in attendance were transfixed as Siglos hit the stage with an almost otherworldly presence in full face paint as if they were ready for a ritual. Lead vocalist Pedro Sanchez came out fanning a smoking chalice of herbs dusting the air seemingly calling upon the ancient ones to join us for the show during the intro of opener “Soga De Los Muertos.” The band’s lyrics are all in Spanish and their aesthetic and sound embraces the ancient side of the culture while blending it with modern metal.
Watch the full opening song here
Siglos was started by two time Grammy nominated lead guitarist Sin Quirin who’s extensive resume includes playing, recording and writing for Ministry and Revolting Cocks, as well as stints with Lords of Acid, American Head Charge, and Society 1, among many others. In an interview I did with Sin about a year ago, he explains the origin of Siglos.
Watch the full interview here
Sin was Inspired to go even darker with his music by shows Ministry played with Behemoth in Europe. Sin describes being struck by the darkness and heaviness of their music. When the pandemic hit, Sin says he went into hyper writing mode with this darkness still at the forefront of his mind creating material that would be too extreme for Ministry, in my opinion.
When he decided he wanted a black metal vocalist for the project, producer/engineer Alex Crescioni from Stygian Sound suggested Pedro Sanchez from Black Death Metal band Transtorno.
The show on October 15th 2023 was Siglo’s live debut after releasing the singles “Por Los Siglos” and “Morir Para Vivir” and the EP Rituales Sagrados. The songs were bolstered by keyboard and sound effect backing tracks sound engineered live by Josh Munson. Their tightness as a unit showed when the keyboard tracks would come in and each band member hit their mark exactly, creating an epic, rhythmic unison.
That day in Garden Grove, Siglos had quite the entourage of crew, friends, family and music industry movers and shakers in attendance that clearly believe in the mission of this project as much as the band members themselves.
A definite highlight of Siglos’ set was the new and as yet unreleased track “Sombra” with its heavy double bass courtesy of drummer Lorden Mitev punctuating the verses leading into the eerie riffs of the chorus; it also features Sanchez showing off his range sliding easily from growled vocals into quiet singing, a calm before the storm of Sin’s shredding solo played with a level of dexterity and ferocity that was like next level Ministry. Sins solos were shredded on his signature Schecter V, artfully backed up by rhythm guitarist Adrian Villanueva.
Single “Por Los Siglos” was another highlight with its almost bluesy Danzig – like groove held down by bassist Juan Pina that blends into Dimmu Borgir-eque keyboards during the chorus. While the recording of this song is great, I felt the live version was even better because I could really feel the heaviness. The band finished off far too soon with “Morir Para Vivir” bringing to close a set that is begging to be seen on a national tour with its high level production value, energy, and musicianship.
Colette Claire 