One of the principles that make hardcore such a passionate subculture is that it does things without the bullshit. It pretends to seek concrete answers by adherence to a lifestyle that can only be qualified as righteous by their own standards. In other words, they want the truth and they want it now. It’s fitting that the name of this band is the latin word for “truth,” as well as the Roman goddess representing the same concept.
The Guadalajara quintet is interested in the truth of the visceral kind. Their songs on their debut release are sung with emotive clamor, dealing with resistance of the personal kind. Some of their tracks deal with bigger issues, like “No Nos Van A Callar,” that reconciles the personal with the political, or more accurately the personal politics of non-conformism and protest. Considering the current sociopolitical climate in Mexico at the moment, a song like this one is very topical.
Veritas play hardcore with jagged edged guitars that don’t shy away from melody. While things get heavy and frenetic, they never go into noisy or hyperspeed territory. They base their compositions on the hardcore punk sounds of the sentiment-fueled bands of the turn of the millennium. What separates the band from other run of the mill acts is their boundless passion; singer Yoroxy Torres has a throat-shredding voice that is built around the burning desire to be heard and understood (his delivery seldom obscure the words). The band’s rollercoaster arrangements seem to be written as a way to make their amazing live act (I’ve seen them, they rule) even more frenzied, as well as giving the words a way to be more poignant by the guitar lines.
Like Iron Maiden and Motörhead, they have a song titled like their band, and it opens the EP with a gentle arpeggio and violin before the distortion kicks in. “Marinero” features chants and Torres crying out zealously. “Algo Cerca Del Cielo” sees the return of guitar arpeggios that serve as riffs, and closing track “Entre Las Sombras” might be their hardest and best arranged; you can only imagine how the mosh pit gets when they play it live.
Marinero is a set of five lengthy tracks that are a breeze to listen if you are into this stuff. Like Le Mat and Joliette, they are helping to spark a hardcore punk revolution in Mexico, saluting the ranks of old school bands still around, infusing it with sounds from the genre’s past and making them their own. The truth is out there, and Veritas are loudly figuring out what it is for them.