Band:	Soziedad Alkoholika
Album:	Sistema Antisocial
Style:	Crossover thrash metal
Release date:	March 03, 2017
Guest review by:	Shamppy

01. Causas Podridas
02. Fugitivos
03. No Olvidamos, 3 De Marzo
04. Alienado
05. Cuentas Pendientes
06. Resurgir
07. Más Ruinas
08. Policías En Acción [Feat. Barney Greenway]
09. Alkohol
10. Farmacocracia
11. Siervo De Derechas
12. Sistema Antisocial
13. Desconocido Habitual

I have been following the guys from Soziedad Alkoholika for a long time now and I have seen how their style has been evolving at a quite interesting pace; they went from a punkish hardcore act to some kind of groove thrash metal, but with this effort they tried implementing elements from all of their past iterations. That does not necessarily mean, however, that they are implementing the best elements of their past albums.

Long gone are the days in which they took themselves with a bit of humor and had satirical and comedic lyrics. This is a pissed-off band now, and you can feel that on every level during this album. From their performance, the vocals, the compositions, and the lyrics, everything here packs a punch.

The first thing to notice with Sistema Antisocial is that it's by far the best-sounding SA album. The production values here are top-notch, from the powerful drums, bass that's as solid as a wall, terrific vocals, and the chubby guitar sound with some killer artificial harmonics that would make Zakk Wylde ask himself if he was involved in this; and while we are talking guitars, the riffs here are to die for, aggressive yet catchy as all hell. There's also a lot of guitar melodies that create some really memorable stuff, and they range from some interesting harmonies and chords that create great hardcore tracks to riffs, fills, and power chords that craft amazing thrashy set pieces.

Sadly, not everything is on par with the guitar composition quality. The vocals, while having a great performance, suffer from some weird metric, unmemorable melodies, plain ranges, and way-too-edgy lyrics. I know that there's an inherent edginess when it comes to this particular branch of music; however, the presentation is too juvenile. I actually think the way edgier, angstier 15-year-old me wrote some lyrics that sounded like some of these. And the problem is that this shows consistently during a big part of the album and makes the whole thing feel like it's a bit less than the sum of its parts.

Regardless, there are some absolute bangers on this album and it deserves a totally fair listen. The highlights are "Causas Podridas", "Cuentas Pendientes", "Resurgir", and "Más Ruinas".