As much as Metal is universal, a global creed which brings together brothers and sisters of all shapes and colours in the common headbanging interest (after all, is there a country on our planet where Metalheads aren’t to be found?) the clichés are sadly as widespread. Getting a promotional CD of a band formed in Argentina back in 1994, it’s surely not unreasonable of me to expect something that I haven’t heard before? Argentinean Metal isn’t exactly as common as American or Norwegian, after all, yet the guys that make up Jesusmartyr have taken their inspiration from the likes of Slayer, Fear Factory, Pantera, Sepultura… everything that we in the epicentre of the genre have heard countless times before, squashed into a package just over half an hour long. What makes it worse is that this ‘Modern Thrash’ sound has already been perfected, pummelled into a faultless form all the way back in 1998 when The Haunted released their debut album.

So, why buy Argentine? Well, for what The Black Waters is it’s not as offensive as some of its cousins, but it’s hardly worth listening to: the Cavaleran vocals spit hate and bile whilst downtuned guitars chug along without dipping into Nu Metal territory, etc etc. You will find typical ‘Core blasts in the likes of High At The Holy City, guitar solo or not, and whilst Hecatomb might briefly hint at ambition with its nearly grandiose opening, it all comes back to those deep, groovy riffs which whilst capable of destroying in the live arena if you’ve swallowed enough cheap alcohol to pickle a moose, are as boring as fuck to listen to at home.

I suppose that I should be thankful that this is such a rare occurrence for me; an album that I can play more or less on shuffle and be guaranteed nothing but mindlessness for as long as I don’t actually concentrate on what’s being fed to my poor, much-abused ears. There’s a school of Metallic thought that says that bands from relatively unusual countries should be treated with kid gloves – this is not a school of thought that I subscribe to. Avoid Jesusmartyr like a plague-infested brothel; if you must listen to this sort of Metal then Soulfly has a new album out that crushes this feeble attempt without even trying. Hooray for Argentina, forming its own Metal scene and giving the local Metalheads bands to cheer for without paying ridiculous prices when the few international bands that care drop by every few years. Now try and produce something worth listening to, if you can.