{"id":105823,"date":"2026-01-09T00:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T00:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/?p=105823"},"modified":"2026-03-11T13:33:54","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T13:33:54","slug":"album-review-ultima-batalla-ultima-batalla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/album-review-ultima-batalla-ultima-batalla\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00daLTIMA BATALLA – \u00daltima Batalla (2026) | Album \/ EP Reviews @ Metal Forces Magazine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00daLTIMA BATALLA
\n\u00daltima Batalla<\/strong><\/span>
\n\"\"
\nSelf-released (2026)<\/span>
\nRating: 6\/10<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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Rumbling like some distant thunder from the 80s, the little known Bogot\u00e1, Columbia-based band \u00daltima Batalla channels mid-80s doom-coated Euro metal for kicks.<\/p>\n

Somewhat of a strange brew, this self-titled debut full-length offers creaks and groans like one of those import rack records I took a risk on in 1987. On wobbly legs this album ambles; shuffling and warbling through tepid production values which do in fact enhance the experience. Even the patchy, almost lacklustre playing adds further nostalgic warmth as the demo quality opener \u2018Hijo maldito\u2019 thuds to morose effect. It\u2019s very much traditional metal but its lo-fi aesthetics are very likely unintentional as vocalist Filo Martinez-Aparicio yaps through the haze of cellar fog. I can\u2019t help but think of some of my mid 80s demo cassettes as \u2018R\u00e9quiem\u2019 labours to a bass rattle and plodding.<\/p>\n

At their most energetic and, shall we say, less stuffy, \u00daltima Batalla boasts a steady gallop, particularly on the Iron Maiden-esque \u2018Lejos de casa\u2019 and raucous closer \u2018Ya caer\u00e1n\u2019. But in-between there\u2019s more stodge and stumbling to contend with as \u2018H\u00e9roes de metal\u2019 squawks to the soundtrack of Carlos X\u2019s axe groundwork, a rather interesting performance that\u2019s partly New Wave Of British Heavy Metal gloom and something more unintentionally wayward.<\/p>\n

The whole product is unorthodox and off-kilter, with \u2018Una y mil veces\u2019 being a good example of those peculiar \/ amateurish (delete where applicable) tones and how this band will appeal to the obscure metal aficionados.<\/p>\n

Neil Arnold<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00daLTIMA BATALLA \u00daltima Batalla Self-released (2026) Rating: 6\/10 Rumbling like some distant thunder from the 80s, the little known Bogot\u00e1, Columbia-based band \u00daltima Batalla channels mid-80s doom-coated Euro metal for kicks. Somewhat of a strange brew, this self-titled debut full-length offers creaks and groans like one of those import rack records I took a risk […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,6010],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-105823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-album-ep-reviews","category-ultima-batalla"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=105823"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105878,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105823\/revisions\/105878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=105823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=105823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.metalforcesmagazine.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=105823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}