Latin Metal (Ill Nino)

I would like to talk about a brilliant combo which came up in the nu metal scene, but with a twist in its approach to their musical ideas. This was, adding elements of latin music such as salsa, rumba, flamenco, etc. and which they like to call "latin metal". I am talking about Ill Nino, a New Jersey-based metal band with South American descent. They provide awesome, cutting-edge metal riffs with a very well crafted mixture of latin percussion and acoustic guitars, and delivering lyrics in both Spanish and English. To check out what I am talking about, here is their first single from their latest album:

This Is War(from the album "One Nation Underground", 2005)


This Is War Lyrics
He was enslaved, to the dirty system, pero murió (to face the end) mother fucking come on
This was the final mission
His life had just begun
It all had to be so fucked up
His death to me, so fucked
His face remains so deathless

[Chorus]

This is war
And I swear that I'm not giving up or giving in
This is war?
Then I swear that I'm not giving up or giving in
Giving up
This is war

Society is a loaded weapon
No one is exempt from the bullet within
El sistema (the system) is a prime example
De lo que pasa cuando (of whats to happen next)
The streets could be so fucked up
His destiny so fucked up
His face remain so deathless

[Repeat Chorus]

Dios mio, alma mia, ¿por que me as llevado la vida?
(god of mine, soul of mine, why have you taken my life)
Cuando yo todo te lo he dado (when I have given everything to you)
En mi hora de muerte, no me dejes morir (in my hour of need, don't let me die)
Necesito otra vida, Necesito que me digas (give me another breath, Speak to me)

Is this war? Is this war?
This is war

With all this latin metal going on, I would like to mention Marc Rizzo, former guitarist of Ill Nino, and actually playing in Soulfly, (he is the one playing on the video "Frontlines", in one of the previous posts). He is a very talented and technical player, and he has a side solo project going on as well. Also, I would like to add a link to a very useful website about Flamenco: The Flamenco Information Page.