Paul Gillman will forever be a pivotal figure in the Venezuelan hard rock and heavy metal scene, having been a founding member of Arkangel, one of the first Latin American bands in the style. Personally, however, I think he released his best work after his departure from that band under his own name, perhaps none better than 1994’s ‘Escalofrío’. The lyrics on this particular album are inspired by Venezuelan folktales and legends. And where most metal bands would go full-on folk metal for such stories, Gillman instead does what he does best here by delivering incredibly powerful heavy metal.

‘Escalofrío’ laid the groundwork for what Gillman would be doing the next few decades. His songwriting partner for ‘Escalofrío’ and its equally good follow-up ‘Cuauthemoc’ is the Argentine-Venezuelan guitarist Facundo Coral. In his own eponymous band, his crushing post-thrash riffs sound a bit too monotonous for my taste sometimes, but combined with Gillman’s wide, expressive and powerful vocal range – with slightly more grit than usual to suit the music – it just works wonders. The blend of styles brings the first Fight album to mind, but the result sounds more like an adventurous take on ‘Strange Highways’-era Dio with the theatricality of a Mercyful Fate.

The first proper song on ‘Escalofrío’ – every song comes with an atmospheric spoken intro that provides context – is one of Gillman’s best to date. At eight plus minutes, ‘El Poema Negro’ is the longest song here by quite a margin, but it doesn’t feel a second too long. After a monumental doomy intro, every riff contrasts beautifully with the last, some of them toying interestingly with timing. The “este amor es mi dolor” climax is incredible and features one of Gillman’s best recorded vocal performances to date. Other bookend ‘El Hachador’ is another highly dynamic track, almost thrashy in its aggression, but never losing track of how music and story interact.

‘La Sayona’ starts out sounding like it will be an uptempo metal track, but quickly transforms into something slow, heavy and surprisingly atmospheric. ‘El Tirano Aguirre’ is an epic track that has the impact of its riffs increased by the melancholic melody haunting its chorus and Coral’s surprisingly bluesy solo leading into a dramatic quieter middle section. A bit shorter, but every bit as enjoyable are the triplet-fest of ‘El Silbón’ and the brooding darkness of ‘El Pez Nicolás’. And anyone fearing that Gillman had forgotten his more traditional metal roots should get a kick out of ‘El Carretón’.

After such a thematically strong album, it would be tempting to call the four bonus tracks – all covers, though Gillman participated on the originals of Arkangel’s ‘El Vagón de la Muerte’ and ‘Nada es Eterno’ – an afterthought, but they actually fit alongside the main tracks surprisingly well. The production is really appropriate for this material anyway, Coral’s guitars having an almost Scott Burns-esque low-end punch. All of this contributes to one of the most satisfying albums ever to come out of Latin America. It’s adventurous, but doesn’t stray too far from metal’s original mission of impressing listeners with strong riffs and incredible vocals.

Recommended tracks: ‘El Poema Negro’, ‘El Hachador’, ‘La Sayona’, ‘El Silbón’