Desde el Infierno

Héctor Guerra sprung to prominence as a member of Pachamama Crew, a hip-hop group from Madrid who railed against the iniquities of life lived on the periphery. Raw storytelling and simple but tough beats were at the heart of their music. These days Guerra lives in Mexico and his aesthetic has changed; he's now busy exploring cumbia, reggaeton and dancehall, as well as visiting native tribes for spiritual nourishment. These influences combine on Desde el Infierno, an album that is ambitious enough to go from the bouncy in-your-face dancehall of ‘Tranqui, Chilling, Manito’ to an indigenous shaman chanting and then on to a raucous slice of Mexican cumbia sonidera. It's an album of big leaps, from the pop charts to jungle ceremonies and then to Mexico's barrios. In the right hands it could work, but the production on these tracks, from the unnecessary air horns to the tinny percussion and treated vocals, come across as 1990s Europop with a Latin dancehall flavour, and that's before mentioning Guerra's slight delivery. There are good moments, such as the Las Cafeteras-aided ‘La Reina de Los Angeles’, and ‘USA es México’, which have echoes of Celso Piña's pioneering mix of cumbia and hip-hop. But they don’t come often enough.