Review by Daniel for Baron Rojo - Metalmorfosis (1983)

Baron Rojo’s second album “Volumen brutal” was not only the first noteworthy metal release to come from the Spaniards but it would go on to become the most celebrated & important Spanish metal record in history. Unfortunately though, that particular release & I have never seen eye to eye really. The production & musicianship are excellent however I struggle with the Spanish language vocals & the song-writing in general. Also, despite its reputation & image, I find it to sit much more comfortably under the hard rock banner than I do the heavy metal one. So the question is… will their follow-up album see me changing my tune or will it be more of the same?

Well the answer isn’t all that straight forward. The first thing you’ll notice about 1983’s amusingly titled “Metalmorfosis” album is the production. It’s decidedly average compared to that of its predecessor with a generally muffled feel to it. It’s blaringly obvious if you listen to the record back to back with other music & it takes some getting used to. Thankfully it’s not a deal-breaker for me & I’m able to cope with it even though it’s a little bit disappointing.

The vocals on “Metalmorfosis” take a very similar approach to those on “Volumen brutal” & I find front man Carlos de Castro’s delivery to be no more easily palatable than I did previously but the big difference here is in the quality of the song-writing. It’s clearly stronger than before in my opinion & this provides me with so much more to dig my teeth into than I found on “Volumen brutal”. Don’t get me wrong. I’m still not suggesting that this is a genuine metal release. Although it’s generally regarded as such I don’t hear much metal here in a good two thirds of the tracklisting. It’s probably a little heavier than “Volumen brutal” overall which appeals to me but there’s much more Deep Purple, AC/DC & Scorpions on display here than there is Iron Maiden, Judas Priest or Black Sabbath. That’s not necessarily a bad thing though as I find plenty to like about these songs with a good two thirds of the tracklisting managing to dig their teeth right in. Even the few weaker numbers here aren’t all that bad with the musicianship once again being very strong & the de Castro brothers doing a great job at filling out the sound.

I have to say that I find it very strange that “Volumen brutal” is regarded as Baron Rojo’s piece-de-resistance instead of this one as it seems to take a comfortable step up from that release in my opinion. Perhaps it’s the weaker production & the fact that “Volumen brutal” was the first major metal related release to come out of Spain that’s enabled it to become so celebrated? Or it could also be the fact that they did an English version of that album with the assistance of Bruce Dickinson from Samson & Iron Maiden that’s made all the difference as I’ve never heard that “Metalmofosis” got the same treatment. But one thing I AM sure about is that you should check this record out because, despite the dodgy Spanish vocals, it’s got a lot to offer fans of heavy rock music.