Xibalba “Demo 2010” Tape Out Now

Xibalba “Demo 2010” Tape
ANTI-GOTH 153

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Mexico’s Xibalba have been among the most mysterious presences within the North American Black Metal underground for nearly 20 years. Their recorded output is limited, but incomparable. In spite of the small volume of Xibalba’s recorded output, one may convincingly argue that no other band from the Americas has ever so effectively harnessed the European Black Metal sound and so convincingly reconfigured it by infusing their own character, identity, and history, while still maintaining a traditional sounding approach. This is because Xibalba’s ancestor worship and dedication to the elder Gods informs every aspect of their sound. At its best, Black Metal is and has always been a spiritual endeavor. Xibalba, more than perhaps any other band from this continent, has recognized and internalized this axiom. Now, 16 years after the original release of their only album, Xibalba re-emerge with a newly recorded demo. This material finds the band once again opening doors to regions of human consciousness only reachable by extending our vision outside the confines of the modern world and into the timeless domain of the ancestral cult. Xibalba’s music is therefore steeped in the Mayan mystical tradition and yet also roils with contempt for the state of man in this epoch of dissolution and degeneration. This demo is a reawakening of Xibalba’s traditional sound with all of the essential elements still intact. It seems at times that Xibalba’s sound has been effectively frozen in place throughout the intervening years. Nothing of the monumental character of their earlier work has been lost. Seldom in this scene does a band return to recording after such a hiatus and so successfully retain the stylistic integrity of its sound. On this demo Xibalba have once more established the virtue of their ancient traditions through the medium of Black Metal, and once more Xibalba have demonstrated the both archaic and eternal nature of their music.

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