Tierra Santa: Mejor Morir en Pie

Tierra Santa is the top metal group in Spain. This is their eighth album, and it apparently puts a much higher emphasis on melody than their previous stuff, although I wouldn’t know about that. What I DO know is that this is a great record, with hooks for days and some lovely agonized crooning from singer Angel. The title translates to “Better Die on Your Feet”, implying “…than to die on your knees”, which means that they have been listening to Midnight Oil and the Clash as well as their fave raves Iron Maiden and Metallica. Some songs, like “Otelo,” sound like they are straight out of the early 1990s hair-metal explosion; others, like “La Impureza de la Amistad”, are more proggy and bring Kansas to mind as well as Latin American alt.metal bands. Either way, you get a lot of twinned guitars and extremely shoutable choruses. I couldn’t find anything from this album for downloading purposes but the video shown here from Spanish TV should show you what they’re all about. I LIKE IT AND SO WILL YOU (unless you are a death metal snob, in which case I think you are lost).