After Jero Ramiro announced his departure from Saratoga, two things happened that surprised me. First off, Saratoga released one of their finest albums thus far in ‘En Estado Puro‘. This was surprising because Ramiro generally wrote what are my favorite Saratoga songs. Secondly, I did not expect Ramiro to release his second solo album so quickly after his departure. And while his 2008 solo debut ‘Tenebrarium’ is an instrumental album, ‘La Cuna del Mal’ actually features vocals. Musically, the album is a bit rawer than his Saratoga songs, but it should still please anyone who enjoys his heavy and power metal style.

If ‘La Cuna del Mal’ proves anything, it would be that even in a style as riff-focused as heavy metal, the vocals can make a big difference. Many of these songs would not be out of place on a Saratoga album. Having Isaac Palón’s reasonably rough-edged and relatively low-pitched voice – compared to Leo Jiménez and Tete Novoa, at least – on these songs, however, gives ‘La Cuna del Mal’ a more distinctly old school atmosphere. Even when Ramiro tunes down his guitars for a more modern, relatively aggressive power metal style. The production finds a solid middle ground between those extremes as well.

Admittedly, my favorite moments on ‘La Cuna del Mal’ all lean towards the power metal side of the equation. ‘La Próxima en Caer’, for instance, immediately blew me away with its biting riff work and the fairly wide dynamic range of its songwriting, and it still is my favorite song on the album. ‘Cautivos del Odio’ is another fantastic song with a more modern approach to the riffing, but not at the expense of Ramiro’s trademark classy melodicism. The opening mission statement that is the title track has elements of both the modern and the traditional side of Ramiro’s songwriting.

Having said that, part of the album’s strength is its variation. Since the power metal songs are more or less alternated with more traditional hard rock and heavy metal tracks, ‘La Cuna del Mal’ stays interesting throughout its 48-minute runtime. Also, the exquisite eighties-style hard rock of ‘El Eclipse’ and the dark, lower-mid-tempo grinder ‘Fiebre’ simply are very well-written and executed impressively by everyone involved. As far as the songs go, my only issue is that the power ballad ‘Lágrimas de Luz’ goes on for a good minute longer than it should have.

Ultimately, the only thing that I think could have improved ‘La Cuna del Mal’ is having a producer on board. Ramiro produced the album himself, and while his old school, guitar-centered approach is part of its strength, some of the songs could have used just a little bit of polish, especially in the vocal department. This is no slight on Palón, as he does an excellent job here, and is a great choice for Ramiro’s writing style. Those who think that Saratoga has gone too power metal through the years should certainly find something of their liking on ‘La Cuna del Mal’, though.

Recommended tracks: ‘La Próxima en Caer’, ‘Cautivos del Odio’, ‘El Eclipse’