Whenever I hear the name Ill Nino it immediately evokes memories of the dreaded nu metal scene where fashion came before music, and I get images of hideous baggy jeans and people with more metal in their faces than in Rob Halford's stage clothes closet. My only real musical memory of the New York/New Jersey six piece being a video continuously played on rotation on music TV. Personally the thought of metal and Latin music is a courtship has never sat comfortably with this particular reviewer.  So it's with great trepidation that I'm handed a copy of the band's fifth album 'Dead New World', the follow up to 2008's poorly received 'Enigma' album.

The first thing I have to commend Ill Nino on is the fact they haven't jumped ship and danced to the tune of whatever is flavour of the month, unlike so many of their former associates in the nu metal genre...Papa Roach anyone? Hell, even Rob Flynn couldn't decide what side of the metal fence he belonged on for a while back then. The album kicks off with the nu metal standard fare of 'God Is Only For The Dead' which isn't entirely a bad track unfortunately it does evoke memories of Linkin Park which is never a good thing. There are however a fewer heavier numbers spread across the album that should appeal to fans of latter day metal bands such as Lamb Of God and Devildriver such as 'Scarred' and 'The Art Of War'.

With the right promotional team behind them I could imagine Ill Nino could have a hit on their hands with the more infectious rock number 'Against The Wall', which is a perfect track to fill the dance floors of any HM disco on a drunken Saturday night.

Even though I've already displayed my disliking for all things Latino flavoured (musically speaking) it's on tracks 'Ritual' and 'Killing You, Killing Me' where the band really do shine, displaying a more tribal feel to the proceedings and giving the band a surge of originality that somehow lacks elsewhere within the album. One of my favourite bands of the 90's has to be Chicago's finest Smashing Pumpkins, which brings me rather conveniently to Ill Nino's crack at 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings' from the 'Melon Collie And The Infinite Sadness' album. Even though it's not an entirely bad effort it's somehow devoid of the originality and vibrancy that made the original track so special and I would suggest digging out the original version instead.

If you are fans of the original nu metal scene then you will probably already have this album on preorder, for any newcomers to the scene you could do a lot worse than spend your hard earned cash on 'Dead New World', there are some great heavier tracks such as the Machine Head flavoured 'Serve The Grave' and 'Mi Revolution' that certainly make the album a worthy purchase.

http://www.myspace.com/illnino