Ill Nino

Welcome to the soundclash. Latin angst and supremely pissed off soul colliding head-on with driving guitars, unrelenting percussion and Flamenco guitar-led melodies that alternately soothe and draw blood. With a membership South American and Latin born, New Jersey’s Ill Nino have rapidly emerged as one of the most dynamic and explosive bands to enter the heavy music realm today. “The idea is to be as heavy as possible and as melodic as possible — with a Latin twist,” says drummer Dave Chavarri.

From the brutal-to-sheer-melodic strains of “God Save Us”, the opener on the sextet’s Roadrunner debut, Revolution…Revolucion, Ill Nino make no apologies for their roots. “Most of us are South American and that comes through in our music,,” says frontman Cristian Machado. “For us , it’s how much do the beats and the guitar riffs make you move? We can’t deny what’s in our blood.”

Ill Nino’s roots stretch back two years to ex-Pro-Pain member Chavarri’s erstwhile mob, El Nino. El Nino set forth the blueprint. Crushing guitars, pained vocals in both English and Spanish and rhythms that merged metal-on-metal thump with a Latino sensibility. In a short amount of time, El Nino garnered a significant fan base and local radio support. Gigging with the likes of Fear Factory and Hatebreed only set the stage for what was to come.

The catalyst that led to the rebirth as Ill Nino came when Soulfly, while touring, tried out interim drummers and Dave Chavarri proved the man most capable for the job. Two months later, Dave returned home with a newfound fire. He and his peers, Cristian Machado and Marc Rizzo, now had a clear vision of what they wanted to accomplish musically. The band’s newer material was taking a more melodic bend, requiring a new voice. After some serious soul-searching, they chose Brazilian-born Machado to fill the frontman’s slot. With a newly revamped line-up filled out by acoustic/lead guitarist Marc Rizzo, rhythm guitarist Jardel Paisante, bassist Lazaro Pina and ex-Ricanstruction percussionist Roger Vasquez, the Latin mob was now complete.

With strong support from the world’s largest college radio station, WSOU, the recently re-christened Ill Nino hit both airwaves and stages alike with the force of their tropical namesake. From a handful of early 2000 gigs with the likes of Kittie, Soulfly, Snapcase and a co-headlining set at the March Metal Meltdown festival in New Jersey, Ill Nino’s impact was immediate and fervent: with their steely combination of their raw energy, multilingual lyrical passion and brutal yet melodic songwriting, the message was clear: Ill Nino had arrived.

“We got a great reaction right away,” says Machado. “The first show we played with our current line-up was in front of 650 kids going mental!”. Part of that energy stems from the passion Machado feels about his life’s experiences, which in turn is reflected in his lyrics. Writing what he lives and feels is his key to keeping in connection with the music. “Insanity, the confusion of growing up and not feeling like you’re a part of where you live, that’s a lot of what I write about,” states the frontman who relocated to the States from his native Brazil at the age of twelve. “Living in the U.S., trying to be accepted was unreal to me. It was a very hectic change for me and a I think a pretty dramatic thing for a lot of people — just trying to fit in no matter where you’re from.”

After quickly finding representation with Andy Gould Management (Rob Zombie, Static-X, Powerman 5000, Linkin Park), capturing all of Ill Nino’s energy and emotion on a new recording became the focus. The band turned to production veteran Ron St. Germain (Tool, 311, Soundgarden, Creed) to team up with Chavarri to handle the production task. After long and grueling weeks in the studio, the results speak for themselves. Revolution…Revolucion hits with a power and gravity unparalleled. From the spiritual call-to-arms of “Rumba” to the bilingual ballistics of “Nothing’s Clear” to twists and turns including the grinding, mechanical “I Am Loco” or the melodic friction of “Unreal”, Ill Nino have successfully created a record as unexpected and catchy as it is devastating.

Let the Revolution begin!