El Muerto | Lost And Amsterdamned | Self-Release

 

Release Date: November 21, 2025

Format: Digital

Genre: Black/Death Metal

Country: Netherlands

Born from despair and rebuilt from its ashes, El Muerto is the project of multi-instrumentalist Ricardo Botello, whose story spans Mexico, Australia, and now the Netherlands. After working with underground acts like Sekhmet and Conscious Comma, Botello now channels his darkness into “Lost And Amsterdamned”, a debut EP that turns personal trauma into sound. It’s an unfiltered expression of pain, survival, and strange beauty, painted in the tones of black and death metal.

The production, handled by veterans like Tomas Skogsberg and Stefan Brown, gives the EP a sense of icy space and raw tension. The guitars dominate the mix, jagged and cold, cutting through with grim precision. Vocals echo with anguish and venom, and the drums, performed by Robin Stone, hammer with precision. The atmosphere is grim but cinematic, filled with the kind of haunted storytelling that once defined the best Scandinavian metal albums.

Each song tells its own story, “Enthroned In The Tower Of Shadows” is steeped in myth and betrayal, “Ghosts Of Torment” drags the listener into a battle with inner demons, and “Wolves Of Den Haag” reanimates real history with terrifying intensity. The lyrical themes stay close to death, trauma, and survival, yet the writing avoids cliché by treating them as allegory, more myth than confession. “A Song For Ran” in particular offers a sense of tragic release, drifting through sorrow like a hymn from the deep sea.

Musically, “Lost And Amsterdamned” moves between harsh aggression and solemn reflection. The influence of Immortal and Emperor runs through the riffs, while the spectral touch of Mgła and the progressive depth of Opeth appear in how the songs breathe and twist. The guest musicians, Zigor Muñoz, Tommaso Tani, and Stone, add layers that are alive and purposeful, turning what began as a solitary project into a communal storm.

There’s a ritualistic rhythm to the EP, a pulse that’s like a heart restarting after long silence. The production is rough around the edges, the songs occasionally wander but that imperfection is part of its character. “Lost And Amsterdamned” is less about black metal purity and more about human endurance in the face of its own abyss. If this is El Muerto’s rebirth, then it’s one that carries fire in its lungs and frost in its veins.

Score: 7.0

https://elmuerto2.bandcamp.com/album/lost-and-amsterdamned