Satón Perform Heart-Pounding, Caustic Punk On Superbly Intense New Record

On their tense, invigorating new record ni’in, the Mexico-based group Satón unveil a tapestry of thick, heart-pounding punk that feels wracked with desperation.

The songs feature a hardcore aesthetic, with some super beefy, thick-toned rhythms, and the group has orchestrated these rhythms to deliver a maximum level of seething menace. For instance, ahead of a blistering drum blast volley that helps round out the conclusion, track one delivers a steady stream of monumentally heavy but simmering and marvelously unhinged rhythms. Taking in the onslaught of searing sonic tension across these songs feels like crumpling beneath internal emotional weight or like lunging headfirst into metaphorical fire.

Formidable physical intensity occupies a consistently central place in the music, like during the particularly harried second track, “Decaer.” Alongside the overt heaviness, Satón perform a concurrent stream of emotionally poignant dynamic swings; the follow-up track, called “Monocromo,” leans into rhythms that feel more extended, with an increased feeling of breathability — but the shift from more to less intense feels less like a swing from tension to relief and more like a journey from one side to the other of chaos itself. The intensity feels unrelenting, and the brisk honesty in the bluntly blasting rhythms feels refreshing. The rhythms sound confident, even if carrying emotional strain. The music just gets right into its spirals of chaos

The record’s closing track is a whopper. The rhythms roll out at lightning speed, as if listeners have suddenly gotten swept into an active thunderstorm. The procession of riffs doesn’t feel entirely straightforward; instead, there’s a haggard feeling of emotional desperation that shines through the mix, like the central perspective captures a frenzied last ditch fight with the abyss. Rather than a straight-up hardcore onslaught, Satón deliver a feeling more drenched in paint-peeling heat.

The rhythms and album as a whole feel perfectly off-kilter, as if capturing moments towards the tail end of that metaphysical fight, in which the time has come to sink into the eventually relieving catharsis of falling into an ether. The persistence of the energy gives the music a somewhat anthemic quality, albeit not a rosy one — instead, the music packs anthemic confrontations with chaos.

5/5 Stars

Listen to ni’in below!